Passopisciaro 'Franchetti' Rosso, Sicily, Italy 2020

Franchetti is the top wine produced at Passopisciaro, a Super-Etnean wine of petit verdot and cesanese d’Affile from volcanic rock and ash. The grapes were planted in the early 2000s after Andrea Franchetti purchased the estate.

When he came to Etna, Franchetti imagined a wine that would be denser and more concentrated than the lighter-bodied and colored wines of the local variety. Thus, while the nerello wines are “wines of place” expressing their unique terroir, Franchetti is a true winemaker’s wine, expressing a particular vision of the maker.

Franchetti is a unique blend of Petit Verdot and Cesanese d’Affile; it is grown in contrada Guardiola at 820 meters above sea level. The winemaker’s interpretation of a full bodied wine on Etna. The result is a wine of great concentration, as black as lava and volcanic smoke that flow from Etna.

Petit Verdot 60%, Cesanese d’Affile 40%