2018 Contrada Bianco PC

Here's an exciting new wine from Etna's great Tuscan interloper, Andrea Franchetti. His Passopisciaro Vini Franchetti 2018 Contrada PC is an IGT Terre Siciliane wine, much like many of the others in this portfolio, only this time we are faced with a pure expression of Chardonnay made after many years of experience and experimentation with this grape on volcanic soils. This pretty wine reveals a light golden color with medium color saturation. The bouquet is rich and generous with candied fruit, honey, apricot, cumin and a pinch of sweet cinnamon spice. This verges on being an all-out full-bodied wine (thanks to 10 months' aging in oak casks on the fine lees), but it holds back just a bit thanks to an elegant and more slender mid-palate. This release of 2,660 bottles represents a nuanced, age-worthy white, the product of arduous labor from steep, terraced vineyards in the Contrada PC (Passochianche) at 870 to 950 meters in elevation.