Tasting notes:

The ‘eye of the partridge’ is actually a red wine from Sangiovese and amber coloured after ageing for over 10 years. Like white Vin Santo, this wine comes from grapes dried in the hottest and best-ventilated roof spaces, fermented and aged in small oak ‘caratelli’. This wine is a revelation. Deep amber-colored with orange lights, the wine has prune and cherry fruit and burnt caramel with notes of tangerine zest, vanilla and forest honey. Very sweet (324g/l r.s.) with intense flavours and a rancio overtone, the palate has excellent balance of brisk acidity and a touch of tannin, perhaps from the Sangiovese skins, and seems drier on the spicy, savoury finish. A fabulous vino da meditazione. [Patricia Stefanowicz MW]