Passopisciaro

ABOUT THE VINTAGE

A blend of ancient grapes of Nerello Mascalese from different vineyards located at different altitudes on the northern side of Etna. In general, the highest districts lie on more gravelly soils to coarser grain, while the lower ones on the finer and deeper soils composed of older lava flows, now oxidized and reduced to lava dust. This wine concentrates the characteristics of different terroirs in a single bottle to offer a global idea of a territory.

As soon as the 2021 harvest was over at the end of October, we witnessed a torrential rain that caused a flood, especially in the Randazzo area. Between the end of November and the end of December we saw more rain in all our vineyards, cold temperatures and snow at altitudes of 1.200/1.500 meters a.s.l. A great start to winter that created good water reserves in the soil. 2022 started off with rather cold temperatures. Budbreak was regular, and the spring rains further replenished our water reserves. This fact, combined with the very warm temperatures in early summer, contributed to a rapid development of the canopy.
It was a delicate vintage to manage for the development of the polyphenols and alcohol content of our Nerello Mascalese, as the months of September and October were very hot and dry, especially in the lower-lying vineyards.
Manual harvesting took place in two main takes, from October 1st to 8th in the vineyards ranging from 550 to 700 meters / 1804 to 2296 feet and from October 27th to 28th in the higher-altitude ones. All grapes come from old vines, between 80 and 110 years of age.

In the cellar, extraction from skin and seeds was minimized to 8/9 days of maceration, and fermentation temperatures never exceeded 28 degrees Celsius / 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
The aging process, lasting 18 months, took place mainly in large oak barrels to favor tannin evolution and partly in concrete tanks. Bottling took place during the waning moon of February 2024.

Thanks to the coming together of grapes from our different contrade located on the north side of Mount Etna, this wine is poised and elegant with acidity, alcohol and silky tannins finding a perfect balance, making the 2022 Passorosso very inviting to drink at a young age but also suitable for medium aging in the bottle.