Passopisciaro

Andrea Franchetti established Passopisciaro in 2004 with the ambition of mapping Etna's contrade (sub-districts) in the manner of Burgundy's lieux-dits. Five contrade expressions — Chiappemacine, Guardiola, Porcaria, Rampante, Sciaranuova — each demonstrate dramatically different volcanic terroir characteristics from identical grape varieties at the same altitude. A definitive terroir experiment that established the vocabulary of Etna DOC sub-regional complexity.

Passopisciaro's contrade single-vineyard series is the defining terroir experiment of the modern Etna DOC era — the five single-contrada bottlings demonstrate conclusively that volcanic sub-districts produce dramatically different wine characteristics. Consistently among Italy's most critically discussed wines: 93-97 points internationally.