2015 Castello di Amorosa Il Raggio del Sole

Over the weekend we opened a long neglected bottle, a 2015 Castello di Amorosa Il Raggio del Sole. If you've never heard of Castello di Amorosa check out the link below. It is basically a recreation of a 14th century Tuscan castle and is done exquisitely. There's nothing fake about it and many of the materials were brought in from Tuscany. We visited when we went on a family vacation to Sea Ranch in Northern California back in 2017. We purchased several bottles of wine on that trip and while most of it is long gone I had a couple bottles of Raggio del Sole (a Moscato) that got stored and forgot and I just recently found them when I did wine inventory a couple of months ago.

This bottle of Moscato taught me a lesson. We typically buy Moscatos and Frizzantes for Summer drinking by the pool. I had always assumed that Moscatos are to be drank young and had no aging potential. I don't know why I thought that because they have similar characteristics to Rieslings which can be almost immortal. Anyways, I was expecting to open this bottle and the wine to be undrinkable because it was 9 years old and stored pretty poorly. That was not the case.

The first thing I noticed was that it was still and not sparkling. I honestly can't remember if this was supposed to be sparkling but I think this was always still. The next thing I noticed was the big nose. White flowers, candied orange, pear and a glycerin note. It was very attractive. On the palate it had white fruit, a touch of tropical fruit, mild almond nuttiness, and a citrus and lightly sweet finish that was medium in length. Texturally, it was very nice with soft acids and a mouth coating effect and felt medium+ body. It was remarkably vibrant for a 9 year old white. I'd conservatively give it 93 pts.

Now, I'm a bit intrigued. I've never really researched Moscato. I typically buy Florencia Muscat from Palmaz when I can get it and that has satisfied by occasional digestif needs, but I've never thought to look to see what else is out there. This bottle has got me thinking I should do some digging.