Either/Or $91.99, shipping included on a set of one bottle each (or 3 bottles of one)  

If Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo were ever to hook up after a crazy night of wine drinking and have a baby, their offspring would probably be a lot like Nerello Mascalese, the ancient red grape grown on the slopes of Sicily’s Mount Etna.  While, to the best of my knowledge, this tete a tete has never occurred, the similarities between these three grapes, grown in three very different environments, are striking.  Nerello, for instance, makes a wine of similar color to Nebbiolo and close to Pinot, as well.  It’s a sort of ruddy red without a lot of depth to its pigmentation.  And while Nerello’s fruit characteristics, a lovely red raspberry confit sort of thing with broad hints of loamy earth, seed spice, purple flowers and Sicilian sunshine, it’s expressed very much like Nebbiolo and Pinot Noir too- with gentle warmth and a level of finesse unique to the ‘family.’  There’s lots of fruit but you’d never really call it fruity or fruit-driven.   It’s not ‘blockbuster’ either, but it will definitely win you over, like Pinot and Nebb can, with its strikingly persistent flavors and, most definitely, weightiness without heaviness. It’s for these reasons that Etna Rosso is among the hottest wines in the restaurant biz right now.  Sommeliers love its food-friendliness and the fact that it almost immediately wins over those who taste it for the first time.
Some of the most-coveted from this fast-growing appellation are the wines of Passopisciaro (passo-pishi-aro).    The property, the name is translated as ‘the ‘Fisherman’s Path’, was purchased and developed by Andrea Franchetti, owner of Tuscany’s famous Tenuta di Trinoro, and originally conceived as an estate wine, but later, instead, in order to add the complexity wines from a variety of altitudes and aspects can bring, came to contract with some of the oldest, most established vineyards on the entire volcano. In addition to a really delicious red blended from all these sites called Passorosso, Franchetti’s real gems are the five single site wines he bottles called ‘contrade.’ Each Contrada is its own terroir, a lot like a single vineyard but, while a little broader geographically, in practice, it’s way more specific, as each spot has a totally unique altitude, exposure and, most importantly, combination of layers of historical lava flows beneath them that influence the soils.  Franchetti labels each Contrada with a single letter to define its locale.  While all five are totally distinctive and delicious, I consistently choose Contradas S and G as my two favorites.  ‘S’ stands for ‘Sciaranuova,’ a spot at 850 meters altitude sitting atop a 200-year old lava flow that has broken up over the years into a thick slurry of heavy gravel.  The Nerellos harvested here are the fleshiest and ‘biggest’ Franchetti produces.  The 2022 is really decadently rich for an Etna red with layer upon layer of flavor and amazing depth.  It’s an impressive wine that will age effortlessly and drink like a Pommard from Burgundy in the meantime.  Speaking of Burgundy, if the S is Pommard, G is the Chambolle-Musigny!   G stands for Guardiola, a steep slope that runs between 800 and 1000 meters high on the edge of a lava flow that dates from 1947.  From very old Nerello vines, this is the most complex, layered and nuanced of the five contrade (IMHO), a triumph of aromatic and textural complexity and a candidate to age decades.  You cannot go wrong whichever you choose but, side-by-side, they would reward the drinker with a snapshot into two gorgeous but completely unique expressions of what makes Passopisciaro one of the most important producers not only on Etna, or even in Sicily, but in all of Italy. Very highly recommended.  The other cuvees – C, P and R- are also available and pricing is the same but there is a 3-bottle minimum per order.

Vinous on the S: The Etna Rosso Contrada Sciaranuova is youthfully coy, with a dusty blend of dried flowers, earth tones and ash wafting up from the glass.  Silky yet lifted and finessed, it sweeps across the palate with medium-weight textures and bright red berry fruits. Its minerality comes through on the finish, enhanced by a bump of brilliant acidity as it tapers off long, staining and with crunchy tannins that resonate on. Utterly classic. While backward today, the Sciaranuova is harmonious and shows incredible potential.  Tasted from the barrel. 95-97 points