Seventy percent Petit Verdot and 30 percent Cesanese d’Affile, a grape originating in Lazio in what the Sicilians call Italy. The vineyard sits at 1,000 meters on Mt. Etna’s slopes, and the fruit was fermented in stainless steel and aged for six months in new French oak barrels, then moved for 14 months of further aging in large cement tank.
Given the curious cépage, this is fearless winegrowing. Given the price, this is the winery’s icon wine. It’s not finished yet. Deep ruby in color, opaque and dense, it’s closed at first and even after copious air feels rustic, hot, primary, and untamed. There’s lots of brambly berry fruit but, like the mountain itself, the wine feels steamy and volatile, with huge, windswept tannins.
Don’t open it now. Hold it for a minimum of ten years.
2014 Passopisciaro Franchetti Terre Siciliane
15.5% abv | $125 (sample) Imported by T. Edward Wines
