Tenuta di Passopisciaro Franchetti IGT
Franchetti is the top wine produced at Passopisciaro and is a blend of Petit Verdot and Cesanese d’Affile. When he came to Etna, Franchetti imagined a wine that would be denser and more concentrated than the lighter-bodied and coloured wines of the local variety. In order to create the kind of volcanic wine he envisioned, Franchetti decided to plant the late-ripening Bordeaux grape Petit Verdot with cuttings from St. Julien alongside the more aromatic Cesanese d’Affile, a grape from Lazio that he helped to save from extinction. Due to the volcanic soil, Petit Verdot becomes more peppery and spicy, leaner and stiffer in body, still with great structure. Cesanese d’Affile is a gentler, aromatic counter to the Petit Verdot, with great ageing potential. The blend changes each year based simply upon which grapes are the best from that vintage, wed not to any predetermined recipe, formula, or even flavour profile, following just the taste of the maker, reflection his perception of the vintage. Franchetti’s distinct style is apparent throughout each each vintage, year after year producing wines with a richness, a depth of flavour and layers of complexity.
