TN: 2016 Passopisciaro Etna Passorosso

[Matt@5453]

My first Nerello Mascalese. A nice fragrant nose of cherry compote, white pepper and spice. Light/Medium bodied. Flavours of red cherry (with a slight sour note), some iron/ferrous notes, earthy tones, with spice lingering on the finish. Acidity slightly poking out, with firm/drying tannins on the finish. Finishes just a tad short. On the second day, the wine felt a bit more balanced with the tannin less obtrusive and felt like the wine filled out a bit more. A good dinner wine. I'll revisit in ~5 years.

Feels like a hybrid of Pinot Noir & Nebbiolo.

[winetastic]

I am not entirely convinced that Nerello improves with age and would suggest checking back after a year rather than 5.

That being said, my sample size is very small, a handful of wines from the secondary market (2010-2012) and one bottle from a wine bar in Italy.

Also have attended a Passopiscaro dinner where they opened a range of wines from the previous 5 vintages or so, the sweet spot for me appeared to be 3-5 years post vintage.

[Redback]

I enjoyed a 2013 a couple of weeks ago and it was supurb. A 2014 opened last year was closed and I got the impression that it needed another few years to develop. I have not had the 2016 as yet but it looks like it is worth a punt.

[Ozzie W]

I am not entirely convinced that Nerello improves with age and would suggest checking back after a year rather than 5.

That being said, my sample size is very small, a handful of wines from the secondary market (2010-2012) and one bottle from a wine bar in Italy.

Also have attended a Passopiscaro dinner where they opened a range of wines from the previous 5 vintages or so, the sweet spot for me appeared to be 3-5 years post vintage.

Jeez, I hope you're wrong! I'm aging quite a lot of Nerello. My sample size of tasting aged Nerello is also small, but I think I've tasted enough to convince me of its age worthiness.

Over past 3-4 years I've tasted 2007 Passopisciaro 7 times, ranging from 7 to 10 years from vintage. The bottle tasted at 10 years post vintage had extra complexity that I enjoyed, although it did seem like it was perhaps near it's apogee. A bit of bottle variation at play too with some of the ones I tasted, but I didn't purchase any of them at release so I've put that down to provenance and corks. I also recently had a Calabretta at 11 years post vintage and it still had many years to go before I'd consider it at its apogee. Some 2014's from Benanti and Graci I've tasted this year (so 5 years from vintage) still tasted very young and underdeveloped.

[winetastic]

To clarify, just suggesting that checking in more frequently might be worthwhile. I hope that they improve with age as well since I too have a few bottles stashed away.

[Rory]

Hi Matt,

Just noticed this post. I have had the experience to try 3, 5 8 &10 year old Benanti. and although the style is somewhat different to Passo, the 10 year old was sublime.