Avignonesi Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice 1995

Wine: Avignonesi Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice 1995

Winery: Avignonesi SPA
Appellation: D.O.C. Vin Santo di Montepulciano (Tuscany, Italy)
Varietals: 100% Prugnolo Gentile (Sangiovese)
ABV: 14.5%

Winemaking
Hand-harvested with an extremely rigorous selection that represents less than 20% of the total vineyard yield. The grapes are dried on tiered straw mats for six months without any manual handling during the process. Following a two-month fermentation, the wine is transferred to small, seasoned 50-liter oak barrels known as caratelli. These are filled to nine-tenths capacity (43 liters of must and 2 liters of madre or "mother" yeast). The wine is aged for 120 months (10 years) before bottling. Following winery tradition, bottling occurs in May at the end of the waning moon. Limited production of 1,450 bottles.

 

Tasting Notes

 

Appearance: Light amber with copper and reddish highlights; clean, with thick and permanent legs.

 

Nose: Explosive and refined; elegant, complex, and candied. Initially, notes of orange marmalade, arbutus berries, peach, and Greengage plums abound. The oak contributes reminiscences of wine-soaked staves, malt whisky, white chocolate, and hazelnuts. Endless. It remains steadfast, continuously gaining elegant oxidative notes. It benefits significantly from several weeks of aeration after opening.

 

Palate: A total surprise, massive, creamy, concentrated, and rounded, with a velvety and exceptionally smooth mouthfeel. Every element is abundant: raisined fruit, spices, rancio touches, smoke, cocoa, and bitter marmalade. A top-tier Vin Santo that requires at least another 20 years in the bottle to fully reach its peak. In 10 years, it will be perfect; it is already nearly there.

 

Personal Score: 95
Tasting Group Score: 95

Oenological Perspective: The Mystery of Vin Santo

Vin Santo is one of Italy's most widespread specialties, with Tuscany, Trentino-Alto Adige, and Umbria holding the highest prestige. The name originates from the tradition of allowing grapes to dehydrate until the first full moon of spring—the start of Holy Week (Settimana Santa). This extensive waiting period distinguishes it from most Italian passitos; instead of sun-drying or resting on straw mats, tradition dictates hanging the clusters from granary ceilings, creating one of the most iconic images in Italian viticulture.

 

The production of Vin Santo is artisanal and largely unorthodox, with each producer following a unique method. While varieties like Malvasia, Trebbiano, and Grechetto predominate, recent decades have seen a shift toward more youthful profiles with immediate fruit expression and high acidity. This modern approach often sacrifices the traditional oxidative palette, ultimately limiting the legendary aging potential (often exceeding 30 years) for which these wines were once famous.

 

Occhio di Pernice: The Pinnacle of Avignonesi

The Occhio di Pernice is crafted using traditional techniques with minimal, quality-focused variations: pneumatic presses for gentle extraction of pure must, and the exclusive use of Prugnolo Gentile (Sangiovese). Because the must extracts almost no color from the skins, the wine attains its characteristic pale copper hue, hence the name "Eye of the Partridge" (Occhio di Pernice).

 

The yield is incredibly low—the must obtained after drying represents less than 15% of the total grape weight, with sugar levels exceeding 55%. One of the wine's great secrets is the use of the "madre" (mothers), a dark, dense sediment from the bottom of the barrels, rich in indigenous yeast strains specialized in surviving such high-sugar environments. The result is a sweet wine peerless in its genre. The only possible debate is whether the Occhio di Pernice surpasses the standard Avignonesi Vin Santo. Chi lo sa...