2018 Contrada Guardiola
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Tasting notes
A release of 3,860 bottles, the Passopisciaro Vini Franchetti 2018 Contrada G draws its Nerello Mascalese from the Guardiola vineyard, located in the village of Castiglione di Sicilia, with vines at 800 meters in elevation. This site is walled off by a much newer lava flow that formed in 1947, but it stopped before damaging the ancient vines. The wine is lean and streamlined with a mild and pretty bouquet focused on wild berry, rose potpourri, ash and hints of tarry spice and smoke. Some dustings of white pepper also appear. Its polished tannins are fully integrated into the wine's light texture. You might enjoy it with a Sicilian minestra with lentils.
Critic scores
Average Score
Walter Speller, jancisrobinson.com
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
Made from a selection of Nerello Mascalese from 100-year-old vines grown in Contrada Guardiola at between 800 and 1,000 m above sea level. Fermentation in stainless steel and aged for 18 months in large oak casks. Just mid ruby with orange tinges. Brooding, sweet, deep and complex nose of raspberry and sour cherry and savoury top notes. On the palate, it has more stuffing than Contrada P but with similar energetic acidity. Fresh and with supporting, tightly knit tannins that make themselves felt without dominating the palate. (WS)
The 2018 Contrada Guardiola, or simply “G,” seduces with a perfumed display of fresh roses, violets and geraniums; notes of dried strawberries and hints of smoke emerge in the glass. It’s like pure silk on the palate, matched by a vivid display of cherries and purple-tinged inner florals, while slowly gaining a more tactile feel through a blend of minerals and round tannins that settle in toward the close. This is so pretty and graceful in feel, yet with a saturating concentration of tarry fruit which, combined with the underlying structure, will promise years of development. In fact, it was only six hours after opening that the 2018 began to show more of a giving nature. Rest this for a few years in the cellar to unleash its inner beauty.
About the producer
Tenuta di Passopisciaro is the Etna estate owned by Andrea Franchetti, one of Italy’s pioneering winemakers who founded the Super Tuscan estate Tenuta di Trinoro, before becoming instrumental in Mount Etna’s wine renaissance with his Passopisciaro estate.