WTN: Two White Dessert Wines....(short/boring)

We tried last night w/ our SFWG two dessert wines:
1. TablasCreekVnyd Vin de Paille Quintessence (100% Roussanne; 8.6%; 1200 hlf btls; Sugar@Pressing: 42.0 gm/100ml; RS: 28.0 gm/100ml; www.TablasCreek.com) PasoRobles 2006: Dark gold color; very intense grapey/passito/honeyed candied orange peel very perfumed/aromatic beautiful/complex nose; very sweet fairly tart intense grapey/passito/honeyed/candied peel very rich/lush/mouthfilling some complex finish; very long/lingering intense grapey/passito/candied orange peel very sweet finish that goes on & on; incredible wine. $60.00/hlf
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2. Maculan Acininobili IGT: VenetoBianco (13%; L7057; botrytis Torcolato/Vespiaola grapes; Winebow) Breganze 2003: Dark gold some burnished bronze color; very intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty very ripe/caramel/figgy/candied peel bit orangey slight earthy some butterscotch/oak very complex nose; soft slight volatile intense botrytis/peachy/apricotty intense figgy/candied/honeyed very lush/rich/mouthfilling bit caramel/oak complex flavor; very long/lingering bit soft very ripe/botrytis/apricotty figgy/candied complex finish; shows less straightforward grapey then the Tablas and a bit more complexity; terrific dessert wine. $100.00/hlf
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A wee BloodyPulpit:
1. Maculan: This wine is made from the local Vespiaola (which refers to the wasps that attack the very ripe grapes). The Torcolato refers to the twisting of the grape bunches onto strings to hang in the attics to dry. This wine is supposedly made from botrytis grapes, though it's not clear if they are botrytized at harvest time, or as they hang in the attics.
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2. Tablas: This is a classic Italian-style passito or Rhone Vin de Paille wine. They lay the ripe grapes out on straw mats in their greenhouse (I believe) and leave the grapes to raisin. Not quite sure why they use straw rather than plastic trays, which would be easier to maintain, other than being true to French tradition. This Quintessence is probably one of the greatest Calif passitos that I've had. It should easily go out another 20 yrs I would think.
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3. Passito: This is a classic Italian tradition of making dessert wines. Mostly they harvest the grapes and lay them in the sun to dry or in their attics. Sometimes they are merely overripe/raisined grapes that are harvested directly One technique that is occasionally used is the let the grapes ripen on the vine, then come along and clip the canes to stop the flow of nutrients and then just leave the grapes to raisin before harvesting.
Passito is a genre that I wish they'd use more to make dessert wines in Calif. However, I'm not certain that passito wines develop the complexity in btl of botrytis wines. I've not had a really old one to try.
Tom

I visited Maculan many years ago and they picked heavily botrytized berries and put them directly in the steel fermenters when they made the Acininobili, no attics needed.

Greetings from Sweden / Fredrik L

Maculan produces several sweet wines. Two of them are made from 100% Vespaiolo- Torocolato and Acininobili.
Acininobili is not produced every year only made from selective grape bunches that show signs of a decent degree of favorable noble rot and the wine is produced just as Frederick has stated.
The Torocolato is also produced from selective bunches (some might have some degree of noble rot, it might take a few weeks to harvest these grapes). The grapes are than left to “dry-out” for 4 months, in January the grapes are pressed. If conditions are favorable in the attic during the “drying out” process the noble rot mold could surely continue their activity.

Salute