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

Capensis 2013, a pleasant surprise from the Western Cape of South Africa

The Spire Collection is a curation of, and marketing vehicle for, the most esteemed wineries in the Jackson Family Wines portfolio. Last evening I attended a wineontheway.com-hosted tasting of selected Spire Collection wines and, while a stellar array of wines was presented, the one which made the biggest impression on me was the 2013 Capensis, a Chardonnay from the Western Cape region of South Africa. This wine surprised me in that it was both excellent and from a region that I have had a hard time getting my arms around.

According to winemag.co.za, this ultra-premium Chardonnay is a joint venture between Barbara Bank, of Jackson Family Wines, and Anthony Beck of Graham Beck Wines and was launched in 2014.

The 2013 Capensis is 100% Chardonnay (primarily clone 95) sourced from three different regions:

• Fynbosch Vineyard Region
• 1,719 feet elevation
• Steep slopes
• Clay soils
• 60% of grapes used in the wine
• Kaainansgal Vineyard Region
• 2,484 feet elevation
• 20% of grapes
• East Bruwer Vineyard Region
• Limestone soils
• 20% of grapes.

The winemaker overseeing production of the wine is Graham Weerts. During the production process, some batches were inoculated while others were not. Approximately 45% of the finished wine was subjected to malolactic fermentation. The aging regime had 55% of the production aged in 100% new French oak for a period of 12 months.

The bottle we tasted last night had been decanted 40 minutes prior to the start of the tasting. In the glass it had a golden color, a testament to its oak treatment. The initial impresion was of burnt matches, vanilla, toasted oak, and smoke. After a while notes of honey dew and herbs caught the attention. On the palate smoke, coal, and a lemomy-lime acidity. Weighty. The 14.1% alcohol adds to a richness on the palate but also produces a slight burn. Lengthy finish.

Trey Christy of Spire Collection characterized this wine (I paraphrase) as a wine of promise rather than one at its destination. And I agree. This is a high-quality Chardonnay from the Chassagne-Montrachet school, more rich than mineral with the oak needing to recede further so that the underlying character of the wine can truly shine through. I bought 1/2 case of this wine at the $70 offer price.

©Wine -- Mise en abyme

Meursault? Or less so?

The Meursault commune, 5-km long and located just 7 km from Beaune, is the northern entry point to, arguably, the world's greatest concentration of stellar Chardonnay vines. While it cannot rival its Côte de Beaune compatriots Puligny-Montrâchet and Chassagne-Montrâchet in number of Grand Cru vineyards (it has none), the wines of Meursault are world-renowned and, as will be discussed later, may be undergoing a refinement in style even as we speak. I will be writing a post on our visit to the Guy Roulot cellars in the near future and so wanted to provide some context herein for that upcoming post.

Source: musée-boissons.com

In his book on the vineyards of France (Terroir: The Role of Geology, Climate and Culture in the Making of French Wines), James E. Wilson identifies what he refers to as Nuits and Beaune soil packages. The Beaune package is comprised of strata from the Callovian (Mid Jurassic) and Oxfordian (Upper Jurassic) periods, capped by Nantoux limestone. The Nuits package is comprised of Bajocian and Bathonian deposits (both Mid Jurassic) topped by Comblanchian limestone. The Nuits package dominates on the Côte d'Or before diving deep underground in the vicinity of Nuits-Saint-Georges. It reappears at Meursault but, to the north of the village, is overlain in the belly of the slope by a Beaune strata package. It is in this part of Meursault that red grapes are grown. To the south of the town, the Beaune package predominates and continues through Puligny-Montrâchet and Chassagne-Montrâchet. This area is home to some of the finest white wines in the world.

The plot architecture of the Meursault vineyard has the leading-edge of the Premier Cru vineyards abutting the Volnay commune and separated from the southern Premier Crus by a thick band of Village-level lieu dits.

The allowed grapes in the Meursault commune are Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc for whites and Pinot Noir and accessory grapes (Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris) for reds. Accessory grapes are limited to 15% of the vines on a given plot and must be vinified as part of a field blend. Planting density is 9000 vines/ha with max loadings of 10,500kg/ha for whites and 9000 kg/ha for reds. No irrigation is permitted.

At approximately 400 ha, Meursault is larger than Puligny-Montrâchet (202.98 ha) or Chassagne-Montrâchet (301.43 ha) but has fewer Premier Crus (19) than does Chassagne (56) and only two more than Puligny. Of the 400 ha, approximately 130 ha is designated Premier Cru with the most well-regarded climats being Les Perrieres, Les Genevirières, and Les Charmes. The best of the Village lieu dits are Clos de la Barre, Tesson, Chevalierès, Rougeot, and Narvaux.

In 2010, the region produced 18,400 hl of wine, 400 hl of which was white. The red wines produced in the north of the commune are labeled Volnay-Santenot in order to take advantage of the higher standing of Volnay reds. White wines produced in Blagny to the south are allowed to be labeled as Meursault-Blagny to take advantage of the market strength of Meursault in white wines. The best producers in the region are Comtes Lafon, Coche Dury, Guy Roulot, Jean-Philippe Fichet, Francois Jobart, Patrick Javillier, Michelle Bouzereau, and Arnold Ente.

The Bourgogne Wine Board (BIVB) is the "voice of the Bourgogne wind trade" and, on its website, describes the wines of Meursault thusly:

The young wine is redolent of toasted almonds and hazelnuts in a floral (mayflower, elder, bracken, lime, verbena) and mineral (flint) setting. Butter, honey, and citrus fruits are also present. On the palate it is rich and fat, with a cheerful and appealing taste of hazelnut.

BBR, on its website, describes the wines as "... typically rich and savory with nutty, honeyed hints and buttery, vanilla spice from the oak." But these descriptors may no longer be applicable across the board. In a 2010 article profiling Domaines des Comtes Lafon, Burgundy-Report gave a halting, non-specific observation of a shift in this particular producer's offerings: "I have the impression that there has been a style shift in both red and white wines in recent years ... the whites of the 1990s were ... forceful, and very well oaked." The whites he tasted on this particular trip "mesmerized" him.

In a recent post (Burgundy Diary part 6: Sea Change in Meursault -- Visits to Comtes Lafon, Guy Roulot, Michel Bouzereau, and Pierre Morey), Benjamin Lewin MW observes that this visit "... showed a real change in style from the old view that Meursault is soft, nutty, and buttery ..." He summarized the key elements of the change as follows: "Previously I have always been a devotée of Puligny for expressing terroir in that ineffably steely, mineral style, but Meursault is now running a close second."

Does this mean that Meursault has not been properly expressing its terroir all along? Or does it mean that terroir is fungible in that region? Stay tuned.


©Wine -- Mise en abyme