Gran Sasso – Pecorino – Terre di Chieti IGT – 2005

Pecorino is not here a cheese, but a white grape variety purported to be shaped like a sheep’s head (hence the name) produced in ever-decreasing quantities in the Marche and, in this case, Abruzzo, in the Terre di Chieti IGT.

Amber coloured, this is bone dry with a pithy orange peel note and a slightly oxidised character. We’d thought we were getting an entry-level wine, but it turns out this was the good stuff at a bargain rate. A lot of drinkers would say this was past it, but I love these wines that show the onset of age.

Viña Tondonia – Blanco – Gran Reserva – 1976

Dense amber. A first impression of candlewax on the nose, then with half an hour’s airing it’s going nutty. On the palate, the bitterness of Seville orange. I always forget how acidic Tondonia can be.

Although I’d have judged this was beyond developing much, over the evening walnuts become almost as prominent as the orange, and eventually a slightly oxidised style foregrounds itself, hinting at amontillado and even salt and vinegar crisps.

Dense, orangey, not quite as outstanding as the 1981.