The De Stefani 2018 Olmèra (packaged in a heavy, eco-unfriendly glass bottle) is a blend of 63% Tocai and 37% Sauvignon. This barrique-aged white wine is perfumed and fragrant with heavy tones of honeycomb and yellow rose. The wine is richly concentrated in appearance and offers 15% alcohol that you definitely feel as it warms in the glass. There is a note of sweet spice on the close. Of these numbered samples, there are 5,318 bottles produced, 243 magnums and 49 Jeroboams.

This is a dense and rich blend of 63% Friulano and 34% Sauvignon Blanc. The 2016 Olmèra sees fruit sourced from a vineyard surrounded by ancient elms, or "olmo" in Italian, the trees after which the wine is named. The Friulano (called Tocai Friulano by this producer) is aged in barrique for 12 months, and the Sauvignon Blanc goes into cement for the same amount of time. Both grapes are aged on the lees in their respective containers. The wine is richly redolent of stone fruit, pineapple and poached pear. This is a full-bodied white with creamy structure and lingering flavors of spice and toasted pine nut on the close. The alcohol content is strong at 15%. Production counts 7,035 bottles. This is a big wine to pair with shellfish or white meat, or else egg noodles with mushrooms.

The 2015 Olmèra is a full-bodied white blend of 60% Tocai Friulano and 40% Sauvignon Blanc. The Tocai grapes go through an appassimento process to lose some of their body mass and that portion of the blend is aged in oak. In order to preserve its freshness and bouquet, the Sauvignon Blanc is refined in neutral cement tanks. Olmèra is the name of the vineyard where these grapes find their home. This is a deep and viscous presentation that opens to dried peach, apricot, toasted almond and exotic fruit. This structured wine should surely hold over the next five years. Only 5,300 bottles were made.

The 2011 Olmera is a fascinating blend of Tai (another name for “Tocai,” now officially known as Friulano) and Sauvignon Blanc. I’ve always been a big fan of this blend because of the effortless richness and smoothness it imparts in the mouth. The Tai component from clay-rich alluvial soils gives the wine structure and staying power. The Sauvignon Blanc exhibits fine aromas of peach, passion fruit and papaya. Apricot, white almond and butterscotch also appear. Its structure suggests good aging potential. Drink 2014-2018. De Stefani’s wines offer new tastes from an eccentric selection of mostly indigenous Italian grapes. Today, Alessandro De Stefani manages the estate and represents the fourth generation of this winemaking family to do so. If you are passionate about Italian native grapes like Raboso and Marzemino, these are definitely worth seeking out. Importer: Bon Vivant Imports, www.bonvivantimports.com