Marjan Simcic Leonardo Passito 2017 (375ml) *

Made in the passito method, where grapes are dried to concentrate their sugars before pressing, this is a sweet expression of Ribolla Gialla from Marjan Simcic, working in the Brda region along the Slovenia-Italy border. The 2017 Leonardo takes a variety more often seen in dry and skin-contact wines and turns it toward dessert, a rich, unctuous style built on ripe orchard fruit.

It leads with an intense rush of apricot and peach dusted in cinnamon, threaded with sweet mint and crushed navel orange. The texture is weighty and glycerol, almost syrupy, but candied citrus and a run of saline minerality keep it from turning heavy. The finish holds long and stays fresh, trailing off on a cool, herbal, minty note.