Organic/BioLower ABV For the past 300 years, Insolia has been grown mainly to add zip and zing to fortified Marsala. But grown carefully at modest yields, it can delivery delightfully crisp and thirstquenching wines like this... Read More
Organic/Bio Russo’s Calderara Sottana is more red-fruited and open/fleshy than the darker, more intense, San Lorenzo. But there’s still plenty of intensity to the perfume and flavors and grip on the long, minerally,... Read More
Organic/Bio At the very top of San Lorenzo, at 750 meters elevation, almost too high to be “Etna Rosso,” Russo farms a 0.7HA plot of vines planted in the early 1940s. Originally they were trained on traditional albarello... Read More
Sicily’s Nero d’Avola is naturally rich, dark and earthy and ready to pair up with robust flavors from the grill or savory mushroom pasta dishes. When from younger vines and higher altitudes – like here –... Read More
Organic/Bio At just 1,800 feet elevation, the lowest of Passopisciaro’s Contrada vines grow on the last edges of Mount Etna lava. The vines push through the lava to limestone and develop more rich, round, textures than the... Read More
Organic/Bio What I’ve learned about Passopisciaro’s Etna Chardonnays is you must give yourself three tastes before you understand what’s going on. Chardonnay of these poor volcanic soils is so mineral and intense... Read More
Organic/BioOnly available as part of the Passopisciaro Etna Six-Pack. Ok, I blew it and didn't buy enough of this because, tasting it in May on the slopes of Etna, it was closed and the fruit was hiding. Contrada Rampante... Read More
Organic/Bio With just 1HA of vines on the 2,800 foot elevation, lava-covered, Contrada Sciaranuova, Passopisciaro made only 165 cases or so of this in 2021. The name translates to new lava flow which covered the site in the 1600s... Read More
I never met Andrea Franchetti, who died in December 2021 at the age of 72. But this wine sums up everything I’ve read and heard from his partners at Passopisciaro. “Poetic” and “wildly visionary”... Read More
Organic/Bio Most Etna wineries make an “Etna Rosso” from younger vines or barrels not used in their single-contrada bottlings. Not here. Instead Passarosso is a blend from some of the oldest vines in Passopisciaro's... Read More
Organic/BioLower ABV When Marc de Grazia began purchasing old vineyards on Mt Etna, he quickly discovered that old-school farmers always includes about 3-7% white grapes in the field. In 2005, he picked all the white grapes before... Read More
Organic/Bio Always one of the most exciting white wines made in all of Sicily. It's 100% Carricante, the white grape that has grown on Mt Etna for at least 1,000 years and probably longer. The 40-100 year-old vines grow in... Read More
Organic/Bio Wow, is this good – maybe the best vintage yet of a benchmark Etna red that’s now almost entirely from Marco de Grazia’s own vines. Fresh and vibrant aromas of strawberry, cherry and wild herb pull... Read More
Organic/Bio Just as in the rest of Europe, when phylloxera came to Sicily in the early 20th Century it devastated most of the region's vineyards. But two small plots of Nerello Mascalese on Mount Etna's steep slopes survived,... Read More
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