US$21.27 Botani Dry Muscat 2013, Andalucia, Spain - $165/btl This wine is a product of a rigorous selection process to fine the best Moscatel de Alejandria vines located on the Northern facing mountainside slopes around the town of Almachar. The vineyards are situated on partially decomposed red slate mixed with white quartz. The scant topsoil is punctuated by outcroppings of the bedrock. Because of the steep incline of the vineyards, the grapes are manually harvested into small 10-kilogram boxes that are carried back to the winery by mules (!!!) “One of my favourite dry white wines in the world is Jorge Ordonez & Co.'s 2013 Botani, a dry Muscat from an area known for making dessert wines from Moscatel de Alexandria. Vinified totally dry, it is a riveting, perfumed, flowery white exhibiting notes of melons, honeysuckle and tropical fruits in a light-bodied, zesty, naked style. There are 5,000 cases of this cuvee, which for ten years has been a reference point for what can be accomplished with this grape in terms of making dry wines versus the sweeter wines for which this area is famous. Drink it over the next 12-16 months to take advantage of its exuberant youthfulness. This pioneering project of the Ordonez family in Malaga reflects the visionary aspects of Jorge Ordonez and his family. Jorge Ordonez and his sister, Victoria, are behind this project, but one should not discount the influence and consulting work of Gerhart Kracher, a member of Austria’s well-known Kracher family. These amazing wines must be tasted to be believed.” Robert Parker 90 pts