Avignonesi Occhio di Pernice 37.5cl 2011

Dense and mysterious, the Occhio di Pernice reveals a complex and enveloping bouquet with aromas of dried plums and dates, propolis, gingerbread, malaga and tobacco. In the mouth it is sweet and spicy and the olfactory notes return, expanding with those of dried apricots and smoked hazelnut with small nuances of Christmas spices. A wine that surprises with every sip for its concentration and depth. The aftertaste persistence is incredibly long.

“Simply one of the best wines I’ve ever tasted. Unctuous, intense, other-worldly.

“The 2011 Vin Santo di Montepulciano Occhio di Pernice pours like molten chocolate from the bottle as a bouquet of mentholated herb and orange zest aromas come together with dried black cherry tones and a cascade of spices. It’s weighty and viscous, velvety yet harmonious, with masses of rum-soaked currants and white raisins. This gains a more lifted feel and remarkable freshness toward the close. A pleasant bitter tinge lingers on, mixing cocoa powder and ground clove notes as the 2011 finishes with outstanding length. Poised and refined.” 94 Points, Eric Guido, Vinous, February 2025

Literally holy wine, the Vin Santo is a sweet wine deeply rooted in Tuscan tradition. The first references date back to the Renaissance, which is also when the Avignonesi family first came on the scene. To this date the Vin Santo and Occhio di Pernice are produced with the madre (yeast) that has been passed on for generations and provides that ethereal taste. This sweet wine is the result of an exceptionally long ageing process during which over half of this precious liquid evaporates. It has been calculated that with the same amount of grapes used to produce one 375 ml bottle you can produce twenty-four 750 ml bottles of wine!

100% sangiovese. The grapes were harvested by hand in the first half of September, in small crates covered with vine leaves, and immediately laid out on bamboo mats in the appassitoio (drying room), where they remained to dry for several months. After a slow, gentle press the must is transferred in “caratelli” (50-60 liter oak casks) for a slow, natural fermentation with the aid of an indigenous yeast known as “madre”. Aged More than 10 years in “caratelli”.