Winemaker Notes
This wine is the fruit of the experience Passopisciaro has accumulated over the years in understanding their various parcels of Chardonnay.
Year after year, implementing precision viticulture where varying maturation levels were tracked separately, they began to separate the primary material in various phases of harvest and vinification, even within the same parcel. Their Contrada PC is the result and the clear demonstration of how, even with the same variety and position, Etna provides a range of unique and diverse expressions from angle to angle. Contrada PC comes from a minute parcel of Chardonnay planted on small and laborious terraces between 870 and 950 meters, where the production is naturally limited and the maturation very particular and complex.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A single parcel chardonnay from Contrada Guardiola that delivers a poised and focused white with depth and intensity. Crushed lime and mineral. Some honeysuckle.
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Wine Enthusiast
The nose of this Passopisciaro Sicilian cru Chardonnay impresses immediately with a sophisticated integration of savory notes against solid but reserved fruit, moving from toasted wood and rain-soaked pavement to lemon, quince and kumquat. Green and yellow apple seem to be almost baked into a pie on the palate, with lychee and other tropical flavors that may have already peeked out on the nose but are now less timid alongside pineapple and star fruit. A squeeze of acid down the middle and a bitter nuttiness at the finish tie everything together in a neat package.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
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.