Passopisciaro

ABOUT THE VINTAGE

The Nerello Mascalese vines of Contrada Guardiola are bush-trained and reach around 140 years of age. They are located at about 800 m / 2.624 ft asl, just below the winery. The vines grow on pyroclastic, postelliptic soil—around 15,000 years old. It is composed of pure volcanic ash. This vineyard covers about 7 hectares of vineyards. It is our largest Contrada.

THE VINTAGE: The winter of 2023 gifted us with a snowfall the likes of which hadn’t been seen for years, covering the vineyards lying above 800 meters with a thick white blanket. The water reserves benefited from the melting of this precious weather event, after the drought-stricken 2022 vintage. However, 2023 was not all rosy. Spring was dry and mild until early May, when heavy rains and low temperatures persisted throughout June, disrupting the regular flowering process. Despite numerous interventions in the vineyards, organic treatments were not enough to stop the attacks of downy mildew, which reduced production across all vineyards, particularly affecting the earlier-ripening varieties. The summer was marked by record heat, with temperatures repeatedly hitting 40°C / 104°F in July. Given the characteristics of the year, the red grapes ripened unevenly, making 2023 a true challenge. The key to quality this year was undoubtedly our manual harvest (which we have always practiced), allowing us to carefully select the best bunches to ensure the best terroir and varietal expression and integrity in our wines. Given the size of the Guardiola Contrada, we are always able— through strict selection—to achieve the highest expression of Nerello Mascalese here, even in particularly challenging vintages. The hand harvest took place on October 23.