This is a dessert wine from the Piedmont region of Italy. It was one of Frankies contributions to our wine dinner on Saturday at Blue Ovals home. He bought a 375ml bottle for $26. It was recommended to match this wine with a dessert that was not overtly sweet. Something like cookies, pastries or cake. Frankie and his wife brought cookies and pastries from a local Italian bakery which provided the perfect match for this wine.

Sule' is the word for "attic" in the local Italian dialect. This is a reference to the fact that the grapes for this wine spends 5-6 months withering in attics to concentrate their flavor. This wine is made from a severe selection of the local Erbaluce grape. After drying it spends 3 years aging in cask and another year in bottle before release. It is capable of aging 30-40 years according to the producer.

The wine presented a golden/copper color. It had nutty, caramel aroma. It was sweet but not intense or cloying. It had a velvety texture with notes of honey, prunes and other dried fruit. I also noted a hint of vanilla and toasted oak on the long finish. If I had to compare it to another dessert wine I would say it was similar to a Vin Santo (but not as heavy) and probably more reminiscent of the dessert wines made by Maculan in the Veneto (perhaps the Torcolato but as I said not as intense and a step below them). 89-90 points.

VM

Again, this only confirmed that more dessert wines must make it into the cellar. Better Half Blue Oval would appreciate it.

BO,

More dessert wines. I agree. It is also a good idea to keep an emergency bottle of Moscato d'Asti on hand for those times when a board member is invited over and forgets to bring one of the bottles of wine for the dinner.

I think you liked this wine better than me. Did you give it a score in the 91 or 92 range?

VM

AS this was the last wine of the evening, my senses were somewhat dulled. I did like it, however, it wasn't in the 90 point range for me. I still tend to lean toward port for dessert wine as my fave. That said, white wine does hold a place, I just need more exposure to it.