Vineyards Magazine

“Man realises his true self through what he creates” – so said Andrea Franchetti.

The wine producer’s passing on 5 December last year has left a void in the international world of wine, but his legacy – Tenuta di Trinoro and Passopisciaro – will continue to flourish. For more than 30 years, Franchetti painstakingly and uncompromisingly assembled a professional and close-knit team that helped to bring a shared vision of excellence to fruition. Together, they created exciting wines that are a direct expression of their terroirs – in Tuscany they speak about Cabernet Franc, on Mount Etna about Contrade and Nerello Mascalese.

At Tenuta di Trinoro in Val d’Orcia, Andrea Franchetti had been carefully passing on his passion and experience to his recruits over decades, including young oenologist Lorenzo Fornaini and estate director Calogero Portannese. The latest vintage, the Tenuta di Trinoro 2019, achieved an incredibly rare 100/100 score from Wine Advocate, which would have been impossible without perfect teamwork.

On the slopes of Sicily’s Mount Etna, Franchetti was the father-founder of the contrade concept of local districts. At Passopisciaro he was assisted from the very beginning by current estate director and winemaker Vincenzo Lo Mauro. Vincenzo shared Andrea’s vision regarding the contrade and, in knowing every detail and nuance of the ancient vineyards, he was in the ideal position to formulate the winery’s five different annual contrade expressions.

Andrea Franchetti will be greatly missed; but as his son and successor Benjamin affirms “The wines developed by my father have taken on a life of their own, an identity that transcends their creator. Our job now, in Tuscany and Sicily, is to continue the work he started, and to carry on translating these terroirs into the finest of wines.”

Tenuta di Trinoro and Passopisciaro are two separate entities, as singular as they can be complementary. Their wines are fruits of different terroirs and extreme climatic conditions unified by one common thread – each single wine transmits the emotion of two great wine regions that were discovered and beloved by their visionary creator. It is this emotion and quality that is prized by collectors across the globe who, year after year, compete en primeur for the rare few bottles available on the market.

Tenuta di Trinoro: The estate, located near Sarteano at the beginning of the Val d’Orcia in the southeast of Tuscany, has 16 plots of vines for a total of approximately 24 hectares, all at an altitude between 450 and 650 meters. The flagship wine “Tenuta di Trinoro” is the blend of the best grapes of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot. The estate also produces “I Campi” three pure Cabernet Franc expressions, an all-Merlot “Palazzi” and “Le Cupole”, a younger and more accessible wine, as well as “Bianco di Trinoro”, a white wine from predominantly Semillon grapes.

Passopisciaro: Situated on the north flank of Etna, the estate relies on 26 hectares of vineyards mostly planted with Nerello Mascalese, the vines often un-grafted and between 80-100 year old. In addition, the estate cultivates some rows of Petit Verdot, Cesanese d’Affile and Chardonnay. “Franchetti Cuvée“ is a blend of Petit Verdot and Cesanese d’Affile, the 5 Passopisciaro crus express the different contrade, Passorosso and Passobianco are the “democratic” voices of Andrea Franchetti’s Mount Etna.

Marco Lucentini