Donnafugata's benchmark passito from volcanic Pantelleria, made from sun-dried Zibibbo. Amber-gold, with apricot, candied orange peel, dried fig and honey lifted by sea-salt freshness. Pour it with blue cheese, almond pastries or alone.
Drawn from sun-dried Zibibbo on Pantelleria's volcanic terraces, Ben Ryé balances an amber, honeyed core with the saline lift that made it famous. The notes below follow Donnafugata's own descriptors and the consensus of more than 4,600 Vivino reviews.
Amber-gold in the glass, with the very intense bouquet Donnafugata sums up as apricot, yellow peach and candied orange peel over tropical hints. Sun-drying the Zibibbo on Pantelleria's racks pushes it toward dried fig, saffron and orange-blossom honey, edged with balsamic Mediterranean scrub.
Orange peel
Orange blossom
Apricot
Fig
Raisin
Almond
Caramel
HoneyUnctuous and sweet but lifted by the saline, wind-driven freshness that defines the island; at 14.5% it stays buoyant rather than cloying. Dried apricot, date and honey are cut by citrus-peel acidity and a mineral, almost salty undertow from the volcanic soils.
Long, candied orange and dried-fig sweetness trailing into a savoury, saffron-and-sea-salt close.
One of Italy's most acclaimed sweet wines, and Vivino's 27,000-plus drinkers agree at 4.5: a benchmark Passito di Pantelleria whose freshness is the trait reviewers single out. Donnafugata's single-estate flagship, equally at home with blue cheese or sipped alone as a meditation wine.
Ben Ryé reaches the UK in three formats: a 375ml half from around £39, the standard 750ml in the low-to-mid £60s, and a 1.5L magnum. The half bottle suits a wine poured in small dessert measures.
These scores read Ben Ryé against Italy's sweet-wine field: a benchmark for food, occasion and cellar, less suited to everyday or beginner duty given its dessert-wine sweetness and £39-plus price.
An iconic, gift-worthy Sicilian classic in half, full and magnum formats, made for the cheese course or the end of a celebration; occasion scores high.
Appassimento concentration and Zibibbo's acidity let strong vintages hold 10 to 15 years, evolving toward dried fig and marmalade; a genuinely cellar-worthy sweet wine.
A specialist sweet wine: brilliant with blue cheese, aged pecorino and almond pastries, but a finisher rather than an all-rounder, so it scores strong without being a versatility champion.
At about £39 for the half and the low-to-mid £60s for a full bottle, Ben Ryé is fairly priced for a globally benchmarked passito (Vivino 4.5), though dessert wine is a small-pour category, so value is good rather than outstanding.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our editorial methodology.
A compact view of what the Pantelleria denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
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Each Ben Ryé reflects one season on a hot, wind-scoured island where Zibibbo is sun-dried for three to four weeks. Warm years concentrate apricot and fig; the constant sea breeze keeps acidity and salinity in play. Current vintages here: 2022 and 2023.
A warm, dry season on Pantelleria's wind-scoured terraces ripened the Zibibbo fully for sun-drying. Bright amber, with dates, dried fig, peach and apricot held in balance by the island's saline freshness. Drinks well young and rewards a decade in the cellar.
Donnafugata describes the 2022 as golden with bright amber hues and a very intense bouquet of apricot, yellow peach and candied orange peel over tropical hints. A hot Mediterranean season gave concentration without losing freshness.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Pantelleria's alberello bush-vine training holds UNESCO heritage status, and farming the island's terraces and 40km of drystone walls takes about three times the labour of a standard quality vineyard. That hand-work, plus sun-drying and two harvests, sits behind the price.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Pantelleria is in the DOC tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Pantelleria falls within Sicily , covering Sicily.
Donnafugata farms UNESCO-listed bush vines and 40km of drystone walls at roughly three times the labour of a standard quality vineyard, the single biggest cost behind the wine.
Zibibbo is hand-picked twice and dried on open-air racks from mid-August, then the raisined grapes are added by hand to the fermenting must: slow, labour-heavy and low-yielding.
Drying grapes to raisins trades volume for concentration, so each 750ml bottle draws on far more fruit than a dry white, lifting the £58-£64 shelf price.
Ben Ryé is one of the world's most awarded sweet wines, rated 4.5 by 27,000-plus Vivino users; reputation and demand support a premium over lesser passiti.
A 375ml half at around £39 puts an acclaimed dessert wine within reach for a single course, the one lever pulling the entry cost down.
At 14.5% it sits in the sub-15% still-wine band: about £2.67 HMRC duty per 75cl at 2026 rates plus 20% VAT, several pounds before the retailer's margin.
Dishes that complement this wine
Ben Ryé's honeyed sweetness and 14.5% richness want either a salty foil or a nutty, candied-fruit echo. Blue cheese and aged pecorino play the contrast; Sicilian almond pastries and ricotta tarts play the harmony. Donnafugata frames it as a meditation wine to sip alone.
Ben Ryé's honeyed sweetness and 14.5% weight set off salt and pungency, the textbook foil for blue cheese. Gorgonzola piccante, Roquefort and aged pecorino all find balance against its apricot-and-fig core, while its acidity keeps the match from turning heavy.
Try with: Gorgonzola piccante · Pecorino sardo e pan carasau · Caciocavallo farcito · Blue cheese · More pairings →
A dessert wine has to be as sweet as the plate beside it. Ben Ryé's candied-orange and dried-fig concentration matches Sicilian almond pastries and ricotta tarts without being overrun, and its freshness stops the pairing from cloying.
Try with: Baci di Dama · Seadas · Pastiera napoletana · Tegole · More pairings →
The wine's own candied orange peel, fig and honey aromas bridge straight to honey-soaked and citrus-laden pastries. Shared aromatics make the match feel seamless rather than contrasting, an echo built on Zibibbo's Muscat perfume.
Try with: Cartellate · Pastiera napoletana · Seadas · Panettone · More pairings →
Sweet wine against foie gras is a classic for a reason: Ben Ryé's acidity and salinity cut through the fat while its sugar matches the richness. The volcanic-soil minerality keeps each forkful feeling fresh.
Try with: Foie gras · Chicken liver pâté · Duck rillettes
Ben Ryé's full, viscous body and caramel-toffee depth, flagged repeatedly by Vivino reviewers, match weighty almond and caramel puddings that would flatten a lighter wine. Toasted-nut flavours on both sides reinforce the match.
Try with: Baci di Dama · Tegole · Torta Della Nonna · Bakewell Tart · More pairings →
Save Ben Ryé for the cheese course or dessert. Poured against delicate savoury starters, green salads or bitter, herb-driven mains, its sweetness and 14.5% richness swamp the food. It is a finisher, not a table wine.
Skip with: Green salad · Grilled white fish · Bitter-leaf antipasti · Pairing guide →
Appassimento concentration and Zibibbo's natural acidity let strong Ben Ryé vintages hold and evolve for 10 to 15 years, trading fresh apricot for dried fig, date and orange marmalade. Donnafugata still pours library vintages from the late 1990s.
Peak around 2029. Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
Appassimento concentration and Zibibbo's acidity let strong vintages hold 10 to 15 years, evolving toward dried fig and marmalade; a genuinely cellar-worthy sweet wine.
£39.00 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
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Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumBen Ryé is a sweet Passito di Pantelleria DOC from Donnafugata, made on the volcanic Sicilian island of Pantelleria from sun-dried Zibibbo (Muscat of Alexandria). The name means 'son of the wind' in Arabic.
The Zibibbo is harvested in two passes. The first pick is dried in the sun on racks for three to four weeks; those raisined grapes are then added by hand to the fermenting must of a later harvest, concentrating sugar, aroma and the wine's signature dried-apricot character.
Amber-gold and unctuous but never heavy: apricot, candied orange peel, dried fig and honey over saffron and Mediterranean-herb notes, with a saline freshness that keeps the 14.5% sweetness lively. Vivino drinkers rate it 4.5 across more than 27,000 ratings.
Classic matches are blue cheese and salty aged pecorino, where the wine's sweetness offsets the salt, and almond-based Sicilian pastries that echo its nutty, candied-fruit profile. It is also a fine meditation wine on its own.
Drink it from release for its fresh fruit, or cellar it: the concentration and acidity let good vintages develop for 10 to 15 years, deepening toward dried fig, date and orange-marmalade tones. Donnafugata still shows vintages back to the late 1990s.
Ben Ryé is sold in a 375ml half bottle, a standard 750ml, and a 1.5L magnum. The half bottle is the easy entry point for a dessert wine poured in small glasses.
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