Tenuta di Passopisciaro Franchetti IGT 2010
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.
Wine File
The Producer Passopisciaro | Sicily, Italy
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 alive! The high altitude, exposure,...
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The Region Southern Italy & Islands
Southern Italy is traditionally included with Sicily and Sardinia (often referred to as ‘The Islands’ when writing about this prolific wine-growing area), because they share, amongst other things, the same latitude.
The area includes the southern mainland regions of Apulia (Puglia), Campania, Basilicata and Calabria together with...
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The Primary Grape Wine By Grape Variety | Petit Verdot
Petit Verdot is a red wine grape, most commonly used in Bordeaux red wine blends. The grape imbues the wine with intense, violet-black colour and tannic structure thanks to the high ratio of skin and seeds to juice. The grape is susceptible to...