Passopisciaro

2012 was a hot and dry year, with no rain from May to October – one of the warmest summers we’ve had on Etna. At the beginning of October we started tasting the grapes in the vineyards, but everything was quite unripe. The sugar was high while the acidity was low, and yet the plants were highly stressed to the point that the grapes were almost raisinated on the vine. All of the other winemakers harvested early as a result, but we felt the grapes’ pH was still too low and the alcohol too high to follow suite, instead irrigating and waiting for the grapes to mature properly. We risked losing the harvest, but finally the rains came. After just two days, the components – sugars and acidity – came into balance, and so we harvested very quickly. Fortunately, nerello mascalese is a strong vine, and even in the worst years it can be revived.

We harvested in this Contrada on October 24^th and 26^th. As big as Porcaria, this year’s wine from Guardiola is lighter-footed and more complex. It is minerally, ravishing, with lots of red fruit; lean, sticky, and velvety. It strongly evokes the mineral world.

Vineyard age: 80 years

Vineyard density: 8,000 vines per Ha

Vineyard altitude: 550 m a.s.l.

Yield per hectare: 20 Hl/Ha

Fertilization: None

Spraying: Clay, propolis, sulphur, copper, grapefruit seed extract

Harvest: 23-31 October

Vinification: Alcoholic fermentation in stainless steel vats for 10 days

Aging: Malolactic fermentation followed by 18 months aging in large, neutral oak barrels