TNs: Two young reds from Sicily

  • 2009 Passopisciaro Contrada Sciaranuova Sicilia IGT - Italy, Sicily, Sicilia IGT (10/23/2013)
    Translucent ruby at the core, lightening out quite a bit at the rim; colored like an older wine. Young primary nose that featured sweet cherries and menthol at the outset, but is now starting to "batten down the hatches.

Acidity nicely frames the sweet & sour cherry fruit; this is a young, serious, light-bodied wine. With the caveat that I really don’t drink a lot of Sicilian wine, I can say that this is one of the first times I’ve tried one where I clearly came away with the impression that the wine would be much better with additional time in bottle. High potential, but not overly giving right now.

Somewhat straightforward on the palate; also light-bodied. The additional year has given the 2009 a little more oomph, but neither wine is ready for prime time consumption. These were both popped & poured, and I’ll revisit a glass of each in a day or two to see if there is any noticeable development.

Posted from CellarTracker

Price points? Good value, in your opinion?

RT

He tasted two single vineyard wines or Contrada. Probably going to be around $60. The basic rosso(around$36) is a good value and gives you most of the flavor and style. But with the loss of precision. Prices are relative to the fact that you are probably drinking the best producer on Etna and at 165 case production. Spent three days on Etna and did a visit. Very impressed with the wines. If you like Burgundy and Northern Piedmont wines, with a touch of ash, then they are something you might like. Very interesting at the least.

I would add to what Gary said that the color is normal for Nerello Mascalese, reminiscent of Nebbiolo.

Etna is the class of Sicily, in my view, with Faro also being very interesting (same varieties, mostly, but lower altitude).

Have you tasted much from Terre Nere?

Bob, nice notes. These need some time to benefit, especially the mid to upper labels.

I say this based on a similar experience with the Rossos recently. The '10 was good, but I thought it was in a dumb stage as it wasn’t giving up much even after time. I had the '08 a month later and it was excellent - started out with some power and an intriguing whiff of volcanic terroir, which dissipated over time into a silky, finessed wine that you’d never believe came from Sicily if you had tasted it blind.

Patience

Thanks for the note. I brought back the 09 Contrada from a trip to Sicily and was thinking of opening it soon. Sounds like keeping it sleeping in the cellar makes sense.
I was much impressed by the other Passopisciaro wines I had while in Sicily - albeit all opened at a young stage. I much enjoyed that volcanic rock and ash side to the wines.
Cottanera wines were also impressive.

I have tasted the entire Terre Nere lineup. Certainly some good - great wines in the group. Some of the bottlings from TN can stand with Passopisciaro. From top to bottom I think Passopisciaro is better. But not by much.

Interesting. I’ll have to seek out some Passopisciaro.

The Passopisciaro Passopisciaro IGT is excellent and a very good value.

So I revisited both wines last night (about 48 hours after opening) - the 2010 had developed some very cool nuances on the nose, like a smoked meat and scorched earth quality. But even after two days, both are still pretty tied down on the palate, so I’ll put my other bottles aside.

Rich, at $60 a bottle, I don’t think this can possibly qualify as QPR, but they are the two most interesting Sicilian reds I’ve ever tried, so I’m not disappointed in having them in the cellar, and am considering purchasing more (although will admit that Beaujolais is currently taking up a sizable portion of my wine-buying budget [stirthepothal.gif] ).

Bob, I bought the entry level bottling of the 10 Passopisciario Passopisciario on a somewhat close out price recently (sub 30 I think) and the wine is deceptive. It seems so light and delicate at first, but it really takes on some weight after being open for a few hours (and seems to hold for a few days, and this was pre-Coravin). I think Franchetti takes a different approach then some of the others, and I guess I am exposed most to the Terre Nere wines). But I’m really impressed with this particular bottling!!!

Henry, I tried that wine earlier this month - the base level bottling is definitely drinking better at this point, and that would qualify as a decent QPR (especially at a sub-30 close-out). The only vineyard-designated wine I’ve tried so far is the Sciaranuova, but I’m tempted to seek out a couple more off this first exposure.

Sitting here with a last glass of the 2010 after a chicken cacciatore dinner, and this has finally started to open up on the palate (72 hours after the cork was pulled) - this is an elegant red; the website puts the vineyard at 850 meters, so at that altitude I guess no surprise that it is lighter-bodied than one would normally expect from a Sicilian red. Really nice, though, and something I will have to look into a little more once I get the chance.

Sub $30 is a steal for that bottle. Drank a dozen and it always impresses.

Hope the harvest went well this year. Mother nature is currently turning up the heat near those vineyards.

[resizeableimage=518,256]Wine Tips • Blast Kitchen

Photo from yesterday:

[resizeableimage=640,427]http://sharing.khon2.com/sharewdpp/photo/2013/10/26/Italy%20Etna%20Eruption_3768834_ver1.0_640_480.JPEG[/resizeableimage]

RT

Help me understand how the vineyards seem to have survived numerous eruptions?

The Etna is about 3400 m and the highest vineyards are around 1000 m. The Etna is a large volcano and it would take a huge eruption to get down to the vineyards.

Ahhhh…Thanks!!

I import Passopisciaro.
The '11s arrive in a week and a half.
I tasted all '11s about two months ago in bottle, a warmer year, whose upper elevation bottlings (the new Contrada G and R) are show stopping in their poise. Some of the lower lying sites in '10, a cooler year, made the most impressive wines (Porcaria).
I’m curious to try the '11 entry level cuvee, and the '12 Chardonnay…