Tasting Notes: With their 2015 Luigi e Giovanna Orvieto bottling, Barberani has redefined Orvieto as a genre, transforming this usually simple table white into a long-lived and long-lasting centerpiece. They blend 90% Grechetto with small portions of Trebbiano and Procanico. About 5% of the fruit is late harvest and affected with Botrytis cinerea, otherwise known as “The Noble Rot.” This benevolent rot is the catalyst for some of the world’s finest dessert wines; even just a small addition of botrytised fruit can add layers of complexity to a wine. The Luigi e Giovanna begins with crushed almond, cherry blossom, and ripe yellow peaches, before it deepens into a lingering finish of chestnut honey, saffron, and candied ginger. The wine is full-bodied, creamy and honeyed, yet buoyed by a zippy acidity.
