originally posted by Cristian Dezso:
2007 PassopisciaroWell, this might be the best $30 wine I have had this year. It's my first experience with Passopisciaro (and Sicilan wines for that matter) and it is just a wonderful one. For whatever reason I expected a dark wine but this is as transparent as a nebbiolo (though red rather than orange). Brilliant nose of dusty mentholy cherries, sage, minerals, flowers, and what I loved about it is that the palate was not far behind as it happens sometimes. Just a wonderful wine.
Does anyone know about the 2008 vintage, and also how these wines age?
Well, yes. I am familiar with this topic, actually.
Folks would come in to C. and tell me that they didn't want a wine from the Sud because it was all opaque, alcoholic black goo, and I made a two year run out of showing them they were wrong.
In the end I said to heck with it because I was tired of taking the psychological hits, and moved North.
Passopisciaro is okay, but far from the best thing on the island. The island being Sicilia, a vast wine metropolis producing noteworthy gems and considerable plonk to wade through.
Passo, run by Franchetti of Trinoro fame, makes several wines, at least three of which I am certain you would not care for. You found the one possible fit. The Passo "Passo" being that one, a wine I suspect sees partial carbonic (although a good pal of Mr. Franchetti, whose name happens to be Frank Cornelissen, assured me I was all wrong about the carbonic). Anyway, I've tried and it doesn't age well.
Sicilia, with its Nerello, its Frappato, and yes, its Nero D, is a magical place, although I gave up trying to convince people of this for my own mental health.
It is a shame, yet true, that folks think of Great Italian wine as consisting of Barolo, Barbaresco, and Brunello, End Stop.
There is actually avwhole freakin' country out there with amazing wines, many from Sicilia and the Campania.
