Wine: Mandolina Malvasia Bianca
Year: 2007
Region: Santa Barbara
Alcohol: 12.8%
A few weeks ago wine.woot ran a little special on a case of Mandolina wines. The price was too good to pass up, so we took the plunge and ordered one. All of the wines included are fairly simgular - lots of interesting, rare grapes grown only on very small plots. The Malvasia Bianca is from a plot of 4 square acres, and only 437 cases were released.
This white wine is so light that it's almost clear with just the tiniest hint of pale gold. The nose is perfumey and flowery with peach, but not cloying. There's a hint of something sharp in the nose that keeps it from being overwhelming.
To taste, the Malvasia Bianca is very sweet, but with a spicy kick. Lots of very fruity flavors including apricot, lemon, and something flowery - maybe jasmine or lavender. The flavor is easily as sweet as a moscato, but the sharp, spicy kick saves it from being overwhelmingly saccharine - the bottle describes the style as "off-dry."
We raced through the bottle - it goes down like sweet, refreshing water. Delicious!
