Sweet Rewards with Corvus Passito
I love sweet wines. Perhaps I have mentioned that a time or two on this blog! I’d been curious about the Corvus Passito, having seen it around, for years. But it’s not an inexpensive wine. It shouldn’t be, right? Passito wines are not cheap to produce so they shouldn’t be cheap to sell. But when you’re looking at that price tag, sometimes it doesn’t matter if you understand that or not.
A few summers ago, I again found myself on the Aegean island Bozcaada, home base for Corvus. At the winery’s Wine and Bites café/shop I was able to purchase the wine by the glass and finally try. Love. At. First. Sip. I bought a bottle then and there.
Corvus Passito, 2010
The 2010 vintage of the Corvus Passito blended together two grapes: Vasilaki (native to Bozcaada) and Muscat of Alexandria. I suspect a lot of the lovely acidity in the wine came the Vasilaki. Grapes were air-dried for an unspecified period of time after harvest then fermented for six months until the wine reached 12.5% abv. It then aged for 24 months in oak and, by the time I drank it, about another eight in bottle.
Deep toffee brown on the pour. I mean, like deeeep. Notes of both fresh and sundried apricot caught my nose along with lightly toasted nuts, dark toffee, molasses, brown sugar, and wood smoke. Unctuous and highly viscous in the mouth with a searing streak of mouthwatering acidity. Flavors of Biscoff cookies, pecans, dark toffee, and sundried apricot framed by brown spices. A surprising savory streak with dried orange peel on the lingering finish.
Even though I fell in love at first sip and bought a bottle on the spot, it wouldn’t be until more recently that I actually opened it. Love sweet wine as I do, I often treat it the same way I do bubbles, i.e. keeping for “special” occasions. While some bottles might be for more celebratory moments, I’m trying to train myself out of excluding these two styles from my regular drinking. As such, I now keep at least one bottle of sweet and something bubbly in the fridge and ready to go!