2017 Testamatta Bianco

This is one of those wines that is so viscerally linked to a sense of place, you actually feel transported there when you taste it. The 2017 Testamatta Bianco Isola del Giglio takes you on a momentary holiday to the Serrone vineyard on the beautiful Giglio Island off the coast of Tuscany. This is a terrestrial paradise where azure sea waves lap up against rounded granite rocks dotted with prickly pears, caper shrubs and 90-year-old grapevines. Testamatta Bianco is a pure expression of Ansonica from this one vineyard site on the southern and most remote side of the island facing the open Tyrrhenian Sea. Grapes are harvested by hand in extreme conditions and are both fermented and aged in neutral oak, with a small part in stainless steel just to loosen the wine's texture up a bit. The bouquet offers fragrant tones of apricot, honey and candied orange peel. This is a medium to almost full-bodied white with a touch of tannic structure that adds a bit of crunch and snap to the palate. However, what I find most alluring of all are those briny, sea salt flavors that are so deftly put on prominent display. There is no other white wine quite like this. A mere 2,200 bottles exist. It tastes as if you were eating a beautifully ripe summer peach while splashing around in foamy sea surf.