Alex's Notes on Azienda Agricola Graci & The Wines of Etna
One of the Etna region's most important modern estates, Graci is one of the defining names of Etna's winegrowing renaissance over the last 25 years. Etna is, of course, the highest active volcano in Europe.
Alberto Graci's work has helped establish Etna as not just notable for Sicily, but as one of Italy’s most exciting fine‑wine regions. Etna had long had vineyards on its slopes but before the arrival of people like Alberto in the early 2000's, the winemaking was generally lazy and the vineyards were poorly tended while many had even been abandoned. There was little appetite or local expertise to make fine wine here.
The produce of any vineyards that were still in production largely went into anonymous bulk wine or was sold to mainland blenders for nondescript brands. Today, this is no longer the norm.
After Alberto's arrival in 2004, word began to spread and quality producers such as northern Sicily's famous Planeta family took his lead and followed him to the area four years later before building their own small winery high up the slopes of Etna in 2012. I have been there and the winery is a stone's throw from an old lava flow, the width of a sizeable river, quite an incredible sight.
Perhaps the 'big bang' moment for the area's reputation for fine wine was when - as mentioned on the postcard - Alberto began a joint venture in 2016 with Angelo Gaja and family, called IDDA.
Angelo is a winemaking legend, head of Gaja's historic family estate in Piemonte (Barbaresco & Barolo) and more recently also in Tuscany, whose prized bottles fetch incredibly high prices. They are the top name in Italian fine wine. To say the Gaja family's arrival was a game-changer for Etna, and for Graci's reputation as a producer of fine wines, would be an understatement.
Winemaking & Ethos
Like so many fine wine producers, Graci's ethos is rooted in respect for tradition and to express individual sites; to make wine parcel by parcel to preserve the individuality of each vineyard block with minimal intervention, while embracing any modern methods that enhance quality.
Where respect for local tradition is concerned, they only work with native Sicilian grapes, namely red varieties Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio and white variety Carricante, Etna's signature white grape.
Fermentations are spontaneous, using only indigenous yeasts, while they use concrete and 'botti' for fermentation and ageing, large oak vats that are neutral in character to allow for maximum fruit and mineral expression - they don't add any oak character at all.
The style is tense, mineral, and elegant, the wines retaining incredible acidity, closer to Burgundy or the northern Rhône in build than to the stereotypical idea of hot-climate 'sunny' Sicilian wines grown at low altitudes. It is this that attracted Angelo Gaja and others, particularly in the face of ever-warming climates pushing up alcohol levels and compromising freshness and finesse in many regions: the opportunity to make Burgundian-like wines but in a Mediterranean setting (and involving much cheaper land).
In many countries, Australia being a prime example, winemakers are looking to higher altitudes for cooler conditions, but it takes years to establish vineyards. Etna was able to offer this with its precious old vines ready to go and capable of making great wine almost immediately...
Terroir - the environment that dictates viticultural and winemaking methods, and shapes the wine
Graci works around 25 hectares of vineyard on Etna’s north‑facing slopes, including some of the region's most prized sites, with the Arcurìa vineyard and its five different types of volcanic soil being the heart of the estate.
Why is Etna's environment and its terroir so unique?
- At the heart of the story is the volcano itself, of course. This means soils of volcanic ash and basalt that imbue the wines with mineral characters and fine tannins.
- The altitude: Graci's vineyards are at between 600m to 1,000m above sea level, resulting in wines with great acidity, tension, and aromatic detail, while being moderate in alcohol, a style that is rarer these days and which fine wine drinkers are increasingly looking for. While dependent on grape variety, as a general rule the higher the pH of the fruit, the less exuberant are the aromatics.
- Significant diurnal temperature shifts (from day to night) thanks to the altitude: allows for slow, even ripening, contributing to preservation of acidity (freshness) and aromatic compounds, and limiting sugar accumulation (thus moderate alcohol).
- Old vines, many 60–100+ years old.
These conditions allow Graci to make wines of remarkable finesse and freshness, that are capable of long ageing.
Sustainability
Graci's entire estate is certified organic and thus with a strong emphasis on biodiversity and soil health:
- Zero herbicides, zero chemicals. They want living soils.
- Manual vineyard work, in any case essential on the many steep terraces.
- Very low yields. Little replanting unless absolutely necessary.
- Cover crops grown in vineyard rows to protect fragile volcanic soils and to fix nutrients naturally rather than by artificial fertiliser.
Alberto Graci is also co‑founder of the I Vigneri project with Salvo Foti, promoting traditional Etna viticulture and the preservation of old vines. This work has made him even more central to Etna's transformation from a supplier of cheap anonymous fruit into one of Italy's most dynamic and respectful fine wine regions. Not to mention the positive knock-on effects for the local economy.
From a banker to a winegrower, Alberto makes amazing wines that are a pleasure to drink not only for their quality but also for their respect of Etna's unique environment and its gnarly old vines....