Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made with 100% Chardonnay, the Passopisciaro 2022 Passobianco (with 46,000 bottles produced) starts off in stainless steel but then sees 10 months in a combination of oak and concrete. The vines are 21-years-old planted in a double guyot with high-density spacing (measuring 12,300 vines per hectare). This site sits at a chilly elevation of 850 to 1,000 meters above sea level. This very pretty wine goes down smoothly with a medium texture and well-shaped aromas of honey, apricot, quince and almond nougat. This is a special expression of Chardonnay from volcanic soils.
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Decanter
From Chardonnay vines grown high up in the north-slope contrada of Guardiola, this Chablis-like white boasts lemon and herb scents. White grapefruit and zesty lime take centre stage on the crisp, fresh palate, with a balanced, steely finish.
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Vinous
The 2022 Passobianco wafts up with a pretty and lifted air of wildflowers, chalk dust and a gentle tinge of spice. This opens with a lovely inner sweetness and ripe orchard fruits as traces of salty minerals and a bump of brisk acidity add balance. It tapers off long and potent, with a lingering confectionery note contrasted by a saline tinge. The 2022 shows the dry warmth of the year through its vividly ripe fruit, but it finds balance in the end.
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.