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Saturday, December 12, 2020

The inaugural vintage of Passopisciaro's Contrada Passochianche Mt Etna Chardonnay

Vini Franchetti has historically only offered a single white wine across its Tuscan and Mt. Etna properties but, over the last two years, has expanded Bianco offerings to three with the introduction of a Semillon at Tenuta Trinoro and a new Chardonnay at Passopisciaro. I explore the new Chardonnay in this post.

Andrea Franchetti's Mt. Etna Chardonnay Journey
When he arrived on Mt Etna in 2002, Andrea decided to restore some ancient terraces lying between the Guardiola and Passochianche Contradas and to plant the plots to Chardonnay rather than Carricante, the latter being best suited to the clime and soils of the eastern slope. The vines were planted at elevations ranging between 850 and 1000 meters in "very loose, deep, powder-like," mineral-rich lava. 

In 2009, Andrea planted an additional parcel of Chardonnay in Contrada Montedolce. 

Andrea's intent was to craft a long-lived Chardonnay reminiscent of the wines of Burgundy and, towards that end, planted at 12,300 vines/ha in order to force inter-vine competition and the production of small, concentrated berries. Andrea felt that the combination of stressed fruit, altitude, abundant sunlight, and significant day-night temperature excursions would produce wines with excellent body plus the acidity and minerality for which the zone is famed.

The first Chardonnay was introduced in 2007. It was called Guardiola initially but, since 2014, is called Passobianco. This 100% Chardonnay utilizes fruit from all Passopisciaro Chardonnay plots.

On every occasion that I have been to Passopisciaro, I have seen Andrea walking through the vineyard, plucking something here, tasting something there. So he knows the vineyards like the back of his hand; and he has noticed that as the vines become older, individual plots are developing distinct characteristics. In 2018 Andrea decided to utilize his knowledge of the vineyard characteristics to bottle a Contrada Chardonnay using grapes drawn solely from one of the highest parcels (870 - 950 m) in Contrada Passochianche. The resulting wine is called Contrada Passochianche.

The fruit sources for the Passopisciaro Chardonnays are summarized in the chart below.


2018 Contrada Passochianche
This was the first-ever edition of this wine. 

According to Passopisciaro, this "was one of the rainiest and most tropical vintages that we've seen on Etna in the last eight years, especially at the end of the summer." The number of leaf-pull passes through the vineyard had to be increased in order to provide air passage through the vines and mitigate the effect of the humidity. Additional mitigation efforts included the use of products such as clay, propolis, grapefruit seed extract, copper, and sulfur.

The harvested grapes were destemmed and cold-soaked for 12 hours. They were then fermented in large neutral oak barrels of no more than 20 Hl, followed by malolactic fermentation in barrel. The wines were aged on lees for 10 months in large neutral oak barrels and for an additional 12 months in bottle.


This wine was alive, taking on different characteristics as it spent more time exposed to the light of day. It was popped and poured. 

One of the first things that I noticed was the extremely high surface tension of the wine. I felt like even I could walk on that water. 

Restrained on the nose initially with hints of herbs, sweet white fruit, apple, and peach. Weighty on the palate at first blush. Bright, intense, racy acidity which was instantly ennervating of the salivary glands.  Citrus. Palate-coating chalky limestone and a peppery cupric finish.

The altitude is apparent, imparting a chiseled character. With the passage of time, a complex mix of minerality, acidity, bitterness, and slate on the palate and the finish.

The nose opens up to reveal tropical notes to include pineapple. As the initial bright acidity recedes, citrus (lime) and minerality rule the day. The wine continues to excite the salivary glands but in a less whole-palate manner. 

The wine becomes less weighty over time with lees and honeydew melon making their presence felt. More linear on the palate with consistent minerality and lime and a saline intrusion. Bitter finish with a lean, mineral, wet-rock aftertaste.

This is a complex wine which has all the characteristics and stuffing to hang around for a while. Definitely not your father's Passobianco.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme

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