Contrada G, for Guardiola, is 100 percent Nerello Mascalese grown between 800 and 1,000 meters on Mount Etna. The vineyard is over 100 years old, but the roots anchor their toes in a lava flow dating from 1947.
Each hectare of this densely planted vineyard averages nearly 8,000 vines, but together these yield on average a minuscule 13 hectoliters per hectare, making for concentrated, highly extracted fruit. The winery conducts primary fermentation of this Nerello in stainless steel, then moves the wine to large neutral barrels and cement tanks for 18 months of aging.
Like the other vineyard-designate reds from Passopisciaro, this wine is limpid and shiny with a concentrated fragrance is of dried cherries and strawberries. It’s more fruity-floral than the Contrada C, though, and also somewhat medicinal, a pine-needle-cranberry infusion with pronounced astringency and alcohol.
It seems immature right now. Try this vintage in a minimum of five years, or pair it with very rich, very savory foods.
2014 Passopisciaro Contrada G Terre Sicilane
15.5% abv | about $60 (sample) Imported by T. Edward Wines
Thanks again for notes on these. Very useful for me.
Opened a bottle of the G tonight. It is young, but also very pretty.
Nice. I guess our notes more or less agree. I wish I had more bottles to lay down.
Me too. Much like your samples I had one of each.