Passopisciaro

Passopisciaro is sited 1,000 metres above sea level on the northern slopes of Mount Etna, Sicily, a volcano from which a steady plume of smoke is a constant reminder that it is very much live. High altitude, exposure and temperature variation, between day and night, all play an important role in a unique terroir which produces wines of enormous character. 

Andrea Franchetti forged his name when he created Tenuta di Trinoro, in the Val d’O...

"Mount Etna rises through layers of increasingly cold air, higher than the Dolomites. Every night this air slides along the black dust to the vineyards and subjects them to a sudden swing in temperature, which first paralyzes them at first, and then makes them distil sugars and altered, distorted aromas, deviated from what would normally come from the metabolism of a normal Sicilian plant. It's best to do one's viticulture in climatic strangen...

This is crazy, quintessential Andrea Franchetti country; stunning, unpredictable, astonishing, mystical and dangerous. A short drive from Passopisciaro will take in attractive cool forest, luscious vegetation and greenery, and then suddenly, on the turn of a sharp bend, the shock of totally barren landscapes, temporarily robbed of life by suffocating lava flows. Still and eerie, even more incongruous is the sight of skiers, as they merrily sla...

PASSOPISCIARO - THE WINES

• Passopisciaro

  Nerello Mascalese is indigenous to Sicily, a red varietal, of which Passopisciaro is 100% comprised. This is an intriguing grape, wild and assertive, which Andrea has elected to tame. Passopisciaro comes from various parcels of old Nerello Mascalese, at between 30 and 120 years old. Generally a shimmering, limpid ruby in colour it surprises many tasters by its delicacy, coming from so far so...