Aleatico - Elba sweet wine

Aleatico Passito dell'Elba DOCG: the "meditation wine"

The Acquabona company that produces this Passito Aleatico is located between Porto Azzurro and Portoferraio and has been producing wine since the 1950s with the typical native grapes of the Island of Elba (Tuscany).

Aleatico is the native grape variety par excellence: it extends over 40 hectares; has a delicate and thin skin and can not bear a long stay on the plant after ripening. The yield is very low.

Red, sweet and very fragrant, the Aleatico dell’Elba is a wine that is obtained from grapes dried in the sun, according to an ancient tradition. Towards the end of August only the perfectly intact and healthy bunches are harvested, and they are placed, without overlapping them, on reed screen or in boxes with perforated bottoms. The drying of the grapes occurs naturally, in the heat of the September sun. The dried grapes are transported to the cellar: the berries are pressed, releasing a concentrated, dense and sweet juice, which slowly begins to ferment. After a few days the wine is separated from the grape skins and seeds. Fermentation continues until the wine has developed 13-14 degrees of alcohol, while maintaining a significant amount of natural grape sugars. The subsequent aging of the wine in barrels can last from a few months up to two or three years.

This Passito is natural, of extraordinary elegance and aromatic intensity. For its characteristics, the Aleatico dell'Elba is a real "meditation wine" and requires a careful and prolonged tasting.

Organoleptic characteristics:

It is a sweet wine, with an intense, complex and enveloping aroma. The color, from deep ruby, can take on more amber tones with aging. On the nose you notice the great concentration and a very broad aromatic profile, ranging from fruity (black cherry, morello cherry and dried plum, small red and black berries), to floral (purple, pink, peony and gentian are recognized) to spicy (clove, cinnamon and medicinal herbs), mineral (ink, graphite) up to the memory, in closing, of chocolate and cocoa. The entrance on the palate is harmonious and powerful, with sensations of red fruit, ripe cherry, blackberry and undergrowth, with a remarkable persistence of taste. The body is full, elegant and velvety. The finish is very long, of morello cherry in alcohol and plum.

Service temperature 12-14 ° C, allowing it to rest in the glass for a few minutes so that the aromas can best be revealed.

It can be consumed alone, or combined with soft and dry doughs, or in combination with chocolate desserts.