Monastero Suore Cistercensi, Lazio IGP (Italy) 2022

 Eighty Roman Catholic nuns tend to their estate vineyards in the Monastery of Cistercian Nuns located in Vitorchiano, roughly 90 minutes north of Rome.  They have been certified organic since 1993.  Their Coenobium is a blend of Trebbiano, Malvasia, and Verdicchio, and is a wine for wine nerds (for better or worse, but better for me).  Slightly reductive at first opening, the wine opens up to show its complexity with notes including crushed almonds, limestone minerality, honeysuckle, baked pear and apricot, red apple, and orange blossom.  In the early 2000s, the Monastery partnered with Giampiero Bea, a prominent winemaker from Umbria, to improve their winemaking.  Their partnership flourished and, today, in addition to their Coenobium Bianco, they produce Benedic Rosso (red) and Coenobium Ruscum (orange) wines.