NV Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Fonte Canale Vertical (2015 2017 2018 2019 2020 2022)

2015: (96 points) The 2015 Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Fonte Canale maintains its rock-star status. Dusty sage and white smoke give way to tangerine, lemon zest and hazelnut. With maturity, this has taken on a lovely inner sweetness yet is still precise and focused. A whiplash of acidity and stern mineral core perfectly offset its tart orchard fruits and inner spiciness. The 2015 finishes with outstanding length and concentration, leaving a lemon and lime freshness while a Hinty tinge lingers on and on. Readers with the 2015 in their cellar should be smiling from ear to ear. 2017: (94 points) A darker golden hue than the vintages surrounding it, the 2017. Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Fante Canale can not be ignored. It has a slowly maturing bouquet that blends hints of petrol and honey flowers with almond paste, baked apples and spice. Seamless and elegant on the palate, this displays perfect harmony. Brisk acidity guides the depths of sour citrus and nectarine. Saline and nearly crunchy in feel, the 2017 leaves the palate reeling with mineral tension as lemon zest and sage resonate on. My predecessor called this one perfectly. 2018: (95 points) The 2018 Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Fonte Canale is a bit moody in the glass today, yet I've witnessed this evolution before. The nose slawly blossoms with dried apricots, peaches, lemony custard, mint and crushed. rocks. Upan entry, it takes an a lovely inner sweetness yet quickly firms up with a mineral concentration. Hazelnut nuances add further savory depths. Granny Smith apple mixes with saline-infused acidity as the 2018 finishes long and zesty in character. A sour lime tinge keeps the palate aching for more. 2019: (94 points) Taking on a deeper golden hue, the 2019 Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Fonte Canale is coming along beautifully. Flintstone and smoke give way to young peaches, apricots and gingery spice. This displays a pretty inner sweetness offset by crisp orchard fruits and sour cirrus, all framed by a salty mineral concentration. It finishes with tremendous length and is still gently tannic, leaving lemon rind and spring inner florals to resonate. The 2019 lacks a bit of the verve that takes the best vintage of Fante Canale to the next level, but with that said, I'm more than happy to have it in my cellar. 2020: (97 points) The 2020 Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Fonte Canale is as gorgeous as ever. It lifts up with a minty freshness that gives way to sliced green apples, ginger and enriching almond paste notes. Texturally deep, it floods that palate with ripe orchard fruits offset by a stern saline tinge, coming across as elegant yet also salty, nearly sultry in character. It leaves the senses drenched in primary concentration and sour citrus, saline and intense, yet still watering for more. The 2020 is a bombshell beauty in this Fonte Canale lineup and will surely make readers very happy over the next decade or more. 2022: (94-96 points) Haneyed yet vibrantly fresh and mineral in style, the 2022 Trebbiano d'Abruzzo Fonte Canale is fruit- intense at this early stage in its life, mixing candied citrus with tart green apples and a cascade of minty herbs and spice. Its acidity wins the day, precise and lifting, offsetting its depths of tart orchard fruit. It finishes long and potent with notes of nectarine and spice that linger on and on. While the 2022 vintage was warm, the season was blessed with rain in September that brought cooler temperatures. As a result, the wine has a core of zesty acidity to balance its rich fruit. This will be a vintage to watch closely.

2015: (96 points) Pale, bright medium straw yellow. Fresh aromas of grapefruit, lemon peel, and yellow fruit plus exotic, almost aromatic nuanced notes of Islay Single Malt, pineapple and mango. Enters and continues very vertical in the mouth, with an enamel-shattering acidity (in my experience, always the 2015 Fonte Canale’s trademark) that has somewhat gentrified with the passage of time. The aftertaste is long and generous, boasting noteworthy cut and clarity, and a lingering gently spicy aromatic character. Drinking window: 2022-2033. 2017: (94 points) Deep straw yellow with obvious golden highlights; this is obviously darker and more golden in colour than any other Fonte Canale ever made, a reflection of the very hot year. Then, given what I have just told you, surprisingly fresh on the nose and in the mouth with hints of white peach, balsamic oils, white flowers, flint, almond paste and grilled hazelnuts. Closes long with saline nuances, harmonious acidity and waves of dried and fresh apricot that keep coming back and forth at you. The 2017 Fonte Canale has always been a much better wine than the hot year had any right to give; or, if you prefer, it’s truly a wine that punches above its vintage class. Drinking window: 2022-2029. 2018: (96+ points) Good full straw-green colour. Orchard and white stone fruit are complemented by spicy notes of ginger and white pepper and complicated by a sweeter note of lemon curd. Easy to drink but deep and complex, with flavours similar to the aromas and a noteworthy saline quality that adds further freshness (not that the Fonte Canale ever needs more of it than it already has) on the long, lime-accented finish. Still very young, this is developing more slowly than I initially thought; today the 2018 Trebbiano d’Abruzzo Fonte Canale strikes me for an almost tannic personality that adds size and mouthfeel to a very impressive, tangy drinking experience. Could one day rank as the best Fonte Canale ever made, hence my plus sign attached to the already high score. Drinking window: 2025-2033. 2019: (94+ points) Pale green-tinged yellow. Pure crushed rock, fresh citrus fruits and flinty minerality on the inviting nose, gaining noteworthy intensity with aeration. Fresh and juicy, complex and very refined, but manages the neat trick of being simultaneously thick and weightless. Best today on the mounting finish, which saturates the palate with iodiney minerality and repeating lemon and lime flavours; strikes me as rounder than usual (“rounder” with Fonte Canale is a very relative term) most likely because of the year’s low yields and cooler weather that increased hang time and in so doing, blessed the wine with greater complexity and a less angular personality. Even at this early age, the 2019 Fonte Canale still conveys the essential style of the vintage, a direct result of the area’s growing season character traits. Very different from the showier 2018, but each will have its fans. Drinking window: 2026-2035. 2020: (96 points) Pale yellow with gold-green highlights. Youthfully reticent but very pure and penetrating aromas of lime peel, lemon, almond flower and minerals. Deceptively open on entry in the manner of a great Chablis from Les Clos, with a suave set of citrus oil-accented flavours of orchard fruit and guava. Then much more like a Chablis from Blanchots on its lifted, fine-grained and extremely long mineral finish. citrus oil. A powerful, broad wine yet almost magically weightless as is absolutely typical of Fonte Canale, one of Italy’s best 10-15 white wines in practically every vintage. The 2020 is good to drink now but will be so much better five years from now. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. 2027 – 2035. (May, 2023)