Winemaker Notes
Contrada Rampante is the highest Contrada sitting at approx. 1,000 meters / 3,280 feet asl. This vineyard grows on steep terraces, shaped by dry stone walls. The soil is made of antique, sandy and oxidized lava, 4,000 years old. The vines are approximately 120 years of age.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Sliced plums and cherries with heather and fresh thyme on the nose. Medium-bodied, this has fine tannins and a creamy finish with nice tension. Focused, pristine young wine, showing layers of tightly curated fruit.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from Rampante and pouring a bright red hue, the 2023 Contrada R leads with pomegranate as its elegant perfume floats from the glass with roses, red berries, and crushed stones. On the palate, it reveals dusty earth, refined but chalky tannins, a good amount of grip, and a lovely, savory finish. This is another gorgeous wine in this vintage from Passopisciaro.
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Vinous
The 2023 Rosso Contrada R evolves in the glass, youthfully tight and complex, with dusty earth and rose tones that open the stage for citrus-inflected cherries and nuances of wet stones. This envelops the palate with soothingly round, creamy textures as ripe blackberries mix with exotic spice and licorice notes throughout. The 2023 finishes long and quite spicy, leaving a pleasantly bitter tinge and grippy tannins to linger on. Give the R time in the cellar to soften its contours. I'm optimistic about its future.
Rating: 94+
Extending across the variable volcanic soils of the slopes of Mt. Etna at some of the highest vineyard altitudes in all of Europe—up to 3,300 feet—Nerello Mascalese is one of Sicily’s most noble red varieties. It makes a beautifully aromatic, firm, cellar-worthy but pale-hued red often comparable to a fine Burgundy or Barbaresco. Somm Secret—Nerello Mascalese takes its name from the black color of its grapes, nerello, and the Mascali plain between Mt. Etna and the coast where it is believed to have originated.
A large, geographically and climatically diverse island, just off the toe of Italy, Sicily has long been recognized for its fortified Marsala wines. But it is also a wonderful source of diverse, high quality red and white wines. Steadily increasing in popularity over the past few decades, Italy’s fourth largest wine-producing region is finally receiving the accolades it deserves and shining in today's global market.
Though most think of the climate here as simply hot and dry, variations on this sun-drenched island range from cool Mediterranean along the coastlines to more extreme in its inland zones. Of particular note are the various microclimates of Europe's largest volcano, Mount Etna, where vineyards grow on drastically steep hillsides and varying aspects to the Ionian Sea. The more noteworthy red and white Sicilian wines that come from the volcanic soils of Mount Etna include Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio (reds) and Carricante (whites). All share a racy streak of minerality and, at their best, bear resemblance to their respective red and white Burgundies.
Nero d’Avola is the most widely planted red variety, and is great either as single varietal bottling or in blends with other indigenous varieties or even with international ones. For example, Nero d'Avola is blended with the lighter and floral, Frappato grape, to create the elegant, Cerasuolo di Vittoria, one of the more traditional and respected Sicilian wines of the island.
Grillo and Inzolia, the grapes of Marsala, are also used to produce aromatic, crisp dry Sicilian white. Pantelleria, a subtropical island belonging to the province of Sicily, specializes in Moscato di Pantelleria, made from the variety locally known as Zibibbo.