Passopisciaro

When I purchased the property in the contrada of Guardiola, I planted densely packed vines of Petit Verdot, from a field selection in St. Julien, and Cesanese d’Affile, from my Tenuta di Trinoro estate in Tuscany. 2005 was a cool vintage, producing tight, classic material. There were just enough berries on the vines this year to make this 40% Cesanese d’Affile and 60% Petit Verdot blend. This is the first vintage for Franchetti.

Harvest: Petit Verdot, picked October 25th; Cesanese d’Affile picked October 20th

Vineyard area: 1.5 ha Petit Verdot; 0.6 ha of Cesanese d’Affile

Vineyard density: 12,000 plants per hectare

Vineyard altitude: 3,000 feet

Vineyard age: 5 years

Yield: 22 Hl/Ha

Fertilization: none

Spraying: Copper, lime, clay, propolis, grapefruit-seed extract

Aging: 6 months in new French oak barriques; 14 months in large cement vessels

Bottled: March 2007

Production: 3,120 bottles