Passopisciaro Passorosso 2022 750ml

The 2022 Passorosso is spicy in the glass with an herbal thrust up front, giving way to ginger-tinged dried cherries and dusty sage. This is silky-smooth with ripe red and hints of blue fruit. Brisk acidity motivates the mouthfeel as the 2022 takes on a salty savoriness toward the close. It finishes with outstanding length and concentration, leaving a coating of fine tannins and a resonance of licorice on the close. This is far from your average Etna Rosso, with nearly 50% of the fruit hailing from Contrada Guardiola. Drink 2025-2032.

The Passopisciaro 2022 Etna Rosso Passorosso opens to dried cherry, redcurrant and crushed rose that give this wine a brittle, almost fragile personality. Fruit comes from 80- to 110-year-old vines planted at a high 500 to 800 meters above sea level as alberello, or head-pruned, vines, at a high density of 8,000 plants per hectare. Winemaking includes 18 months of aging in botte grande and cement. You taste extra ripeness in this hot-vintage wine, but you also get the structural firmness we see in the other excellent wines in this portfolio. This is a release of 36,700 bottles.