Sometimes a bottle of wine is like a much-needed hug.

In this case, that was due to both the maker and the giver. 2007 was the last vintage before Andrea Franchetti began making his single vineyard Contrada wines, so this was still his only Nerello Mascalese, and so much of that fruit still made it into this bottling. I’ve always thought of Passorosso (as this wine is now known) as his calling card, a holistic approach to representing a vision of Mt. Etna’s potential, encapsulating its myriad aspects, lava flows, and elevations in a glass. Revisiting this wine took me immediately back to a place for which I’ve been so nostalgic; tasting it, I was reminded of how the best wines of that place stand with the great wines of the world.

Thirteen (and some change) years on, the 2007 shows an underlying playful minerality that lifts up the wine. Its red-fruited core, with a hint of strawberry jam and vinegar, marks it as squarely Sicilian, while its high acidity and firm, powdery tannins nod at a developing Barolo. Its balsamic, woodsy note (Andrea always called it the delicate sandalwood) plays nicely with hints of sweet tobacco, and the chewy, tarry tannins complement the vinegar edge — a note I very much enjoyed.

Grateful to Taylor for finding this beautiful bottle at auction as a surprise, which I ruined by finding it in the cellar but which made my heart explode with all the feelings.