2010 Vin San Giusto

This wine is classified as an IGT Toscana because Chianti Classico appellation laws require that Vin Santo has at least 12% alcohol. The 2010 Vin San Giusto only has 9.5% alcohol instead. These means you can count on extra sweetness and sugary intensity, and that is exactly the intention here. The blend is 90% Malvasia and 10% Trebbiano, and it ages for six long years in small barrels (resting on "mother" lees leftover from indigenous yeasts that have formed in previously used barrels and carried forward over the years). The wine pours from the bottle as if it were maple syrup, not wine. It shows super rich consistency that makes for slow and lazy movements as you swirl the glass. This wine is so absolutely singular it's hard to know how to score it, because it virtually has no equivalent. The bouquet shows hard candy, butterscotch, caramelized sugar, marron glacé and cedar smoke. The wine's drinking window is basically forever. A very precious 2,282 (375-milliliter bottles) exist, and I just tasted one of those unforgettable gems.