Passopisciaro

ABOUT THE VINTAGE

Contrada PC is a mountain Chardonnay with a long ageing potential. The first vintage produced was 2018. The wine comes from Passochianche, a minuscule terrace parcel lying at 870-1000 m / 2854 – 3116 ft a.s.l, just above the main estate of Passopisciaro.

The Chardonnay was planted with a density of 12,300 vines per hectare / 4,920 vines per acre. The volcanic soil is 15,000 years old and of post-elliptic, pyroclastic origin with abundant rock formations.

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.
The Chardonnay harvest returned to taking place between the 1st and 15th of September, due to – or thanks to – the phenological delay caused by spring weather patterns. The grapes ripened unevenly, and the key to quality for this vintage was undoubtedly manual harvesting, 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.
Despite the very low yields and a 60% loss in production, we are comforted by the quality of the wine – a real source of satisfaction after all the hard work of this growing season.

IN THE CELLAR

30% of the grapes had a pre-fermentative maceration in stainless steel vats, for about 24 hours, at 10 ° C / 50 ° F, while the remaining grapes were gently pressed in whole clusters. Alcohol and malolactic fermentation took place in large Slavonian oak casks and a short passage in cement, where the wine subsequently aged for 10 months on the fine lees.
On July 24th 2024 4.754 bottles were bottled.