With the Franchetti, we always have something very special, a true rarity due to this very unique grape variety composition. In its youth, the 50 percent Petit Verdot provides an overwhelming spiciness, black, brutally intense but without fat or jamminess, closed and reserved with initially restrained fruit and fully on the spicy side. We find pepper, cinnamon stick, clove, and a few herbal flowers in the background. Overall, a stubborn wild horse that throws off every inexperienced rider. Simply everything is too much, too exhausting.
After a few years in the cellar (already aged here for 4 years), the soft, dry elegant, complex, and harmonious grape variety Cesanese di Affile comes into its expression. Ruby red with purple fights through the black of the Petit Verdot. The Cesanese can, similar to what Cabernet Franc can do, represent a fine, complex counterpoint to the Petit Verdot. The Nerello Mascalese, which is actually native to the volcano, would have simply been overwhelmed as a partner, and the Cabernet Franc would have too many ripening problems up here at this altitude. The wine shows a powerful, spicy core on the palate, initially without specific fruit aromas, perhaps a bit of dried currant or cranberry, then a sweet core emerges along with the enormously soft tannin cushion, some cherry in balsamic cream with a touch of clove and vanilla bean behind it. What an incredibly unusual but so exciting wine! Andrea Franchetti, who also owns the cult winery Tenuta di Trinoro in the Brunello region, has an incredible talent for terroir and suitable grape varieties. Etna and this wine create another dimension.
