I’m certainly not the first at C&B to blog about Andrea Franchetti’s wines – see Passopisciaro archive – but I’m doing so with as much enthusiasm, if not quite as much eloquence, as Will and Davina have in the past.
I remember last year’s tasting at C&B HQ with the man himself very well as, quite genuinely, one of the best I’ve had the pleasure of attending and this year was equally impressive…
Alex Burge, in charge of Andrea’s exports (and thank goodness he does export these wines) deputised brilliantly for the boss. Alex is a former rugby player and boxer and would cut an intimidating figure on a dark night on the streets of Palermo! That assessment alone would be doing Alex great disservice, however, as he talked us through the wines with great charm and technical knowledge. It has to be said that his Italian heritage also gives him a significant edge over the rest of us when it comes to pronouncing words like Passopisciaro, Contrada Sciaranuova and Chiappemacine!
Linguistics aside, however, the simple truth for any one that loves the diversity that Italy (and the world) has to offer (as I imagine you do, if you’re taking the time to read this) is that the wines that Alex opened for us, and that we are proudly offering to our customers, are an absolute treat.
Alex described one of the features of Tenuta di Passopisciaro, in Sicily, as taking the best of historical winemaking practice (principally great viticulture) and improving significantly on the worst. Harvesting grapes strictly on certain saints’ days and using chestnut wood barrels, for example, are traditions that Andrea has (I’m sure very wisely) dispensed with! Add to that a little maverick genius in the winery and you have some incredible wines from the slopes of Mt Etna.
Guardiola, the only white, is still a great example of Chardonnay in its purest form (with no oak whatsoever) which also benefits from a little bottle age. It’s only drawback, however, is tiny production.
Passopisciaro is still, in my view, one of our very best wines for those that like to venture off the beaten track although, in reality, it’s not too much of a detour. Nerello Mascalese shares both genetics and certain qualities in the glass with Pinot Noir and, particularly in 2009, Passopisciaro provides a lighter, slightly earthy, perfumed wine that can’t fail to impress Burgundy lovers.
Also keep an eye out for tiny quantities of the Contrada wines we tasted (single vineyards, more or less equivalent to the French lieu-dit or even cru) each from different parcels, and different altitudes, across Etna. The Italian names are something of a challenge for Englishmen like myself to pronounce with much style, but all offer incredible complexity within a brilliantly elegant structure.
Franchetti 2009 presents us with more ‘real Italian’ (historic Sicilian variety Cesanese is 80% of the blend, together with Petit Verdot) and a beautiful bottle of wine, rounded with a rich, velvety texture.
Tasting the Tuscan wines last, it felt completely appropriate that our boxing, rugby playing Italian expert was showing them to us; there was something of a heavyweight quality to all of the wines in their rich, concentrated and dense complexity.
Nonetheless, it goes almost without saying that Le Cupole, Palazzi and Tenuta di Trinoro itself each offers a very different ‘Super Tuscan’, not only in their raw ingredients and structure but also between the excellent 2009 vintage and our sneak preview of the 2010 tank samples. I found that all of these wines were almost surprisingly enjoyable to taste now (more so than a 2010 claret of equally great quality, perhaps) but they will clearly become incredible with time in the bottle, as previous vintages have done.
Andrea Franchetti and his team are still creating beautiful wines.
Wines from Andrea Franchetti’s 2 estates are available below: