The 2013 L'Autentica (500 ml) is a blend of Malvasia and Moscato from blackened volcanic earth. This is an absolutely irresistible wine that offers the best of Italian dessert wine tradition. First you have the abundant sweetness of this southern Italian fruit. Dried apricot, honey and candied almond rise to the top. You also have the sharp contours and nobility of the distinctively mineral-rich soils. It is such a pleasure to drink a wine of this extraordinary width and dimension.

Made with air-dried Moscato and Malvasia grapes, the 2011 L'Autentica (500 ml) is a veritable masterpiece of Southern Italian winemaking. This luscious dessert wine opens to deep golden color with amber and copper highlights. The bouquet is extremely generous and opulent with dried fruit aromas, apricot, yellow rose, candied fruit, almond marzipan, candied orange peel and grilled herbs. The complexity of the bouquet is breathtaking. The heat of the vintage has played a big role in shaping the profound richness and beauty of this wine.

Cantina del Notaio’s 2008 L’Autentica is a late-harvest Moscato/Malvasia blend from the slopes of the Vulture. Orange peel, smoke, mint, mulling spices and nectarine add an exotic flair. The 2008 is rich and deeply resonant, with plenty of depth, but no excess heaviness. This harmonious dessert wine is best enjoyed over the next few years. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2016. Cantina del Notaio has made a name for itself with rich, textured wines that bear the signature of longtime winemaker Luigi Moio, one of the most celebrated and influential oenologists in southern Italy. Today’s wines are a bit more restrained than they have been in the past, a positive development given that this fruit really needs little to shine. All of the wines are named after stages in the Italian legal process. Importer: Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The 2007 L'Autentica (Moscato, Malvasia) is intensely sweet, yet medium in body, with compelling scents of honey, orange blossom, apricot jam and mint. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2019. Cantine del Notaio is one of the leading estates in Basilicata. Consulting oenologist Luigi Moio shapes wines of extraordinary elegance and finesse. Importer: Skurnik Wines, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The 2006 L’Autentica is Moscato and Malvasia grown on volcanic soils. It is a simply brilliant wine loaded with orange peel, spices, burnt sugar and dried flowers. This mid- weight, gracious dessert wine offers terrific balance and class. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2016. This is a fabulous set of new releases from Cantina del Notaio, one of Basilicata’s leading estates. From top to bottom, these may very well be the finest wines I have ever tasted here. A Marc de Grazia Selection, various American importers, including: de Grazia Imports; tel. (417) 732-4200; Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; (516) 677-9300, Estate Wines Ltd., San Rafael CA; (415) 492-9411, Giuliana Imports, Boulder CO; (303) 547-6343, Robert Houde Wines, Bensenville IL; (630) 422-1119