Passopisciaro winery is the daydream, which has become reality, of Andrea Franchetti who, after having imposed himself to the attention of the most demanding palates, with the great wines of his Tenuta di Trinoro, decides to embark on the Sicilian adventure. His Etnean viticulture requalification work was a bet that, although it began only in 2000, gave impetus to a real rebirth of the “Volcano’s wines”.
Although everyone identifies Passopisciaro with the iconic Franchetti, it is worth remembering that his first vintage of production was 2005 and that the first red wine marketed was the more modest Passopisciaro. That wine was a blend of Nerello Mascalese grapes low-pruned, alberello-trained, coming from various vineyards very old (80-110 years), on the northern side of Etna, at different altitudes (between 550 and 100 meters above sea level), with soils ranging from coarse-grained volcanic gravel (of more recent origin) to oxide and lava dust (of older origin). Today the Passopisciaro has changed its name to Passorosso and has achieved the denomination Etna Rosso DOC, but the soul has remained the same, as the same is the will to propose a wine that encloses, in a homogeneous collage, the different flavors and taste of all those lands.
The production vintage of the wine in taste, the 2017, has been characterized by a particularly hot summer, almost completely devoid of significant temperature changes at night, a situation that has caused an early maturation. The grapes, harvested in an inevitable state of over-ripening, with a week in advance, were vinified in steel tanks, and then carried out malolactic fermentation in large oak barrels. The aging of 18 months, which took place in the same barrels, was followed by bottling, made with the waning moon.
In the glass the wine shows a bright and sparkling ruby color, with purple nuances, and transmits to the nose initial scents of blood orange, cinchona and Mediterranean scrub, followed by echoes of red fruit, damp earth and camphor, with a final hint of smoky and blood tones. In the mouth stand out again the blood component, and the smoky one, all supported by a good freshness and a pleasant bitter vein, which accompanies the sip until the finish with tones of powder and red fruit.
Rating: 88/100
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