Passopisciaro Contrada Rosso Rampante 2020

'Passopisciaro produces six different bottlings of nerello mascalese, the native grape to Mt. Etna, in order to showcase the profound differences in the terroir – lava flow, aspect, and altitude – of the various Contrade that we work with. The vines are all between 70-100 years old, and the nerello harvest typically occurs at the end of October/early November. The wines undergo fermentation in steel vats, followed by malolactic and 18 months aging in large neutral oak barrels; this minimal intervention approach to winemaking allows the differences in  terroir  to shine. We started bottling the  contrada  wines separately in 2008, with a label change in 2009.

Contrada Rampante 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 district to ripen. We own and cultivate 1.4 hectares on this domain. ' - Vini Franchetti