Passopisciaro Contrada S Sciaranuova Terre Siciliane IGT, Sicily, Italy 2022

In 2000 Andrea Franchetti decided to restore an old farm and cellars on the slopes of Mount Etna, an active volcano in northeastern Sicily. The winery sits at about a thousand meters of altitude above the small wine town of Passopisciaro in the district of Castiglione di Sicilia, on the northern slope of the volcano. His first task was to clear and restore long-abandoned terraces of ancient vines on the northern slopes of the mountain, replanting at a density of 12,000 vines per hectare on thin lavic soil. His arrival on Etna helped to initiate the renaissance of viticulture on the mountain and an international discovery of the wines of Etna. At Passopisciaro, he focuses on the native grape Nerello Mascalese and its various expressions of terroir and altitudes through a series of crus, as well as the varieties Chardonnay, Petit Verdot, and Cesanese d’Affile.

Passopisciaro produces six different bottlings of nerello mascalese, the native grape to Mt. Etna, in order to showcase the profound differences in the terroir – lava flow, aspect, and altitude – of the various Contrade that we work with. The vines are all between 70-100 years old, and the nerello harvest typically occurs at the end of October/early November. The wines undergo fermentation in steel vats, followed by malolactic and 18 months aging in large neutral oak barrels; this minimal intervention approach to winemaking allows the differences in terroir to shine. We started bottling the contrada wines separately in 2008, with a label change in 2009.

"The Passopisciaro 2022 Contrada S shows bright energy with a spot of fresh cherry that rises above the volcanic notes of ash and crushed stone that normally defines Nerello Mascalese. This wine draws its fruit from 90-year-old vines at 850 meters in elevation in the Contrada Sciaranuova. It sits very nicely on the palate with good primary intensity and elegantly chalky tannins. This is a limited release of just 2,075 bottles." Wine Advocate 95