2015 Passopisciaro, Passorosso, Etna Rosso DOC, Sicily, Italy.
Mount Etna is one of world’s great wine growing regions and one of the hot spots for both white and in particular reds, with Passopisciaro one of the leaders of this wave of fantastic offerings from this volcanic influenced area on Italy’s island of Sicily. Passopisciaro is one of Sicily’s stars, making volcanic reds that are often compared to the finest Crus of Burgundy’s Cote de Beaune, they come from the cooler northern side of Mount Etna with their unique terroir characteristics of high-elevation terraces of highly varied black, lava soils that give these amazing wines their spice and delicacy. Passopisciaro, farms all biodynamic focuses Etna’s Nerello Mascalese grape, from vines that were planted between 1913-1943. The Passorosso Etna Rosso is fermented using specially picked yeast in cold stainless steel vats before finishing malos and aging in French oak, mostly neutral big barrels, for 18 months, and bottled unfined and unfiltered. This 2015 Passopisciaro Passorosso is a marvel of lightness and textural pleasures, it’s gorgeously perfumed with flinty/shale notes and spicy red fruits, with racy plum and raspberry leading the way before opening up and gaining layer after layer including macerated cherries along with subtle black licorice, rose petals, lavender oil, red pepper, along with faint wood notes. This light/medium palate pure Nerello Mascalese has a beautiful and dreamy mouth feel and lingering aftertaste, it’s absolutely stunning from start to finish, is this the result of the talented enologist, at Azienda Passopisciaro, Eduardo Torres Acosta, the Canary Islands native? I can say this 2015 is a significant step up in detail over the prior vintages, which were already exceptional! Drinking ultra well even it’s youth, I can hardly fault anyone wanting to open this bottle today, it has potential to age for another decade, it’s window is open now, don’t miss it.
($35 Est.) 94-96 Points, grapelive
