I tasted bottle number 67 of 800 made of this very special wine. The 2016 Trebbiano d'Abruzzo La Botte di Gianni offers an elegant and true expression of the Trebbiano grape. This is a workhorse variety that shows its delicate and graceful side in the deft hands of the Masciarelli wine team. The purity of the grape, with its honey and saffron-like aromas of stone fruit and white rose, is enhanced by some of the spice and smoke of the special "botte" used to age this wine dedicated to its late creator. Enjoy it with a grilled filet of grouper or dorado (mahi mahi).

Here's a unique, oak-fermented wine that shows a maximum expression from Abruzzo and a maximum expression of the Trebbiano grape. The Masciarelli 2013 Trebbiano d'Abruzzo La Botte di Gianni (with a mere 835 bottles produced, all culled from a single 700-liter barrel) is a richly layered expression with stone fruit, creamy apricot, custard and toasted vanilla. This elaborate wine spends a careful 28 months in oak. The results are profound and meaningful, to be celebrated with a platter of Dungeness crab. La Botte di Gianni means "Gianni's barrel," and the wine pays homage to the estate's legendary founder Gianni Masciarelli who was taken from this world much too young. It's nice to feel connected to him through this wine.