Passopisciaro Contrada ‘R’ Rampante Nerello Mascelese 2022

Name: Passopisciaro Contrada 'R' Rampante Nerello Mascelese 2022
SKU: 63713
Availability: InStock

Nerello Mascalese from Sicily, Italy, Etna

$159

$152ea in any 3+

$145ea in any 6+

Alc: 14%

Closure: Cork

The Highest Elevation Contrada owned by Passopisciaro making delicious Ethereal wines!

The 2022 Contrada Rampante is intense, wafting up with all of the volcanic ash and stones that make up its soils, complicated by grilled herbs and citrus-laced blackberries. This is surprisingly juicy and energetic in feel, with a wave of vibrantly ripe red and blue fruits that swirl throughout as tactile minerals collect toward the close. It finishes with teeth-coating tannins and concentration, leaving a sensation of liquid stone and a resonance of tart cranberry toward the close. Wow, I swear I can sense the soil of the vineyard in the glass. Tasted from barrel.”

Eric Guido, Vinous 94-96 Points

From the Contrada Rampante, the Passopisciaro 2022 Contrada R shows extra color saturation and primary fruit with black cherry, plum and dusty spice. The wine is quite firm in terms of structure, and it shows prolonged length that is fueled by dark fruit flavors. This gorgeous vineyard is located at 1,000 meters in elevation and boasts 120-year-old vines. Like the other wines in this series, it sees 18 months in oak. This is a release of 3,300 bottles.

Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate 94 Points

In stock

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Contrada Rampante (Contrada R) is our highest cru at 1,000 m (3,330 ft) above sea level. At the highest confines of viticulture on the northern side of Etna, Rampante is ancient contrada, producing one of volcano’s finest, most aromatic wines because of the sandy character that the lava has acquired. Due to the altitude, it is typically the last contrada to ripen. We own and cultivate 1.4 hectares on this domain.

About Passopisciaro

The article includes a look at all the Contrade from both 2012 and 2013.

Listen 🎧to Andrea Franchetti’s Podcast with Levi Dalton

Passopisciaro is at once both a fossil and a piece of modern art! Vines aged from 70-120 years old grow on the slopes of a volcano at altitudes that make noses bleed. Less than 20 years ago these wines were unknown, the Grandfathers of today’s revolutionists made simple wine from overcropped vineyards.

Today the next generations are pushing the boundaries making wines from 100% Nerello Mascalese. Often referred to as a hybrid of the great Nebbiolo’s from Barolo and Pinot Noir’s from Burgundy, Nerello Mascalese is capable of making wines with real personality! They’ve taken something incredibly ancient, gone back to the DNA and started again. In under a decade the evolution of these wines have accelerated through a millennia.

Vines have been nurtured back to balance, tended by hand on terraced vineyards that one in every 3 years find themselves under ash clouds hurled into the sky from the very mountain they are planted on, a volcano, Mt Etna!

The 2022 Vintage at Passopisciaro

The big topic of discussion focused on the 2022 vintage and the new releases that were just a month away from bottling at the winery. I am stunned by the harmonious nature of these wines. The 2022 vintage was defined by drought conditions that lasted through the majority of the year. While warm and, at times, unseasonably hot, the real problem was the need for water. In the case of Passopisciaro, hail events resulted in a loss of 25% of their production. The combination of dry warmth and hail forced the team to harvest ten days earlier than usual, hand-sort the fruit berry-by-berry and shorten maceration times. However, the results are really quite special. The year’s conditions did not affect the acid balance in the wines. The 2022s mix elegance and soaring aromatics with an energetic core that makes them wildly appealing today but with the balance to evolve over the medium term. I’m looking forward to tasting them again once in bottle.

Eric Guido, Vinous