2005 Alba Ludendo Aleatico Dell'Elba

Not happy just with having created Grattamacco, one of Italy's most prestigious and oldest Supertuscans, Pier Mario Cavallari has been dividing time between his first love and this new venture on Elba, a huge estate for the island at 420 hectares. Already there are signs that the Tenuta delle Ripalte Aleatico is becoming one of Italy's best sweet red wines. The first vintage was the '04, while the '05 is less sweet but a better wine. "It's cleaner, and while still sweet, it has much better concentration," said Cavallari. "Due to the rains in '05, I let the grapes air-dry for longer than the ten days of '04, and I think it helped." Interestingly, Cavallari doesn't see much of a future for sangiovese on the island. "It's too hot and dry here," he explained. "Sangiovese wants a little freshness, and it develops more interesting aromas where it's not so hot. Instead, I'm going to try grenache, or alicante, which is a very Mediterranean grape that I think ought to do really well here."