Contrada Guardiola is an old vineyard site at 800 meters altitude, located right next to the winery. After the Etna volcanic eruption in 1947, the estate was abandoned as the lava flow stopped just beside the vineyards! There, the residents of the village Passopisciaro built a small chapel as a sign of their gratitude. Until Andrea Franchetti discovered and restored this unique estate in the late 1990s, it lay fallow and the plot was forgotten. The vines here are partly over 130 years old – the oldest in the winery – and the terraces made of dry stone walls were built a long time ago, probably even several hundred years ago.
As with all Contrada from Passopisciaro, this is naturally pure Nerello Mascalese. Biodynamically farmed, without certification. The terroir here is very diverse and completely different from the other Contradas. There is no lava soil in the vineyards of Passopisciaro here, but pyroclastic soils that are over 2,000 years old. As with all Contrada wines, after fermentation the wine is racked every two months between steel tanks, wood, and concrete.
The ultra-fragrant nose of red, juicy cherries to ripe raspberries, curry leaf, and green tea makes me dream. Wow, this is so close to perfection – I am blown away. Many yellow aromas from orange juice to juicy peach gradually emerge from the glass. On the palate, the Contrada "G" reveals incredible freshness and at the same time finesse. The tannins are ripe, sandy, round, polished, and balanced with perfectly harmonizing acidity. The red-fruited wine has a fantastic, vibrant tension and intensity, along with an incomparable harmony and delicacy that is unmatched. Here we are truly in the Burgundy of Etna. Wow, here we probably have the best single vineyard of the winery. The wonderful herbal spice lingers for minutes. A wine that sets standards for Sicily.
