Nerello

The Barbabecchi vineyard is a two-hectare plot of 100-year-old Nerello Mascalese grown at its limit, at 1,000 metres above sea-level. Elegance and richness are balanced with layers of fruit (kirsch, blood orange and cherry pit) and more savoury notes (smoky minerality and tobacco spice). The tannins are refined and seamlessly bound with the fruit on the mid-palate. Delicious in its youth, this is definitely capable of ageing with grace. Drink now to 2025.

Also from the Arcuria vineyard, at 600-660 metres up the black lava strewn slopes of Monte Etna, comes this suave, effortless and limpid Etna Rosso, whose Nerello Mascalese fruit was harvested late on in the season, so imbuing with wine with (volcanic) minerality. Vinified only in wood, first in upright tini, then in 40hl botte grande, without stalks, there’s a minerally smokiness to the red/back fruit, being also gentle and fluid; indeed there’s a wave of red, peppery fruit, wrapped up in silky tannins. Molten! Drinking 2014 - 2024.
David Berry Green

Probably as a result of the thin air at 1000 metres above sea level, & aggravated by a tricky harvest, nature yielded a tiny crop so our allocation is a mere 36 bottles. The vines are planted on piede franco, low yielding ungrafted rootstock (as opposed to more vigorous American ones that most of Europe is planted on) and the vines are older than those used for Quota 600. Blended with 5% Nerello Cappuccio, the net result is a high tension, delicate, modest alcohol wine with great finezza and bevibilita (drinkability).
(David Berry Green)

Alberto’s village blend of 100% Nerello Mascalese, from across his 15 hectares planted in the villages of Randazzo, Solichetta, Passopisciaro and Castiglione, encapsulates the natural balance and harmony that this noble grape is able to achieve here on Etna. Fermented in cement followed by affinamento (elevage) in Stockinger tini, this pale garnet-red wine, of medium-full body, sings of strawberry patch purity, of volcanic minerals, of beguiling soft summer fruit and warm Sicilian breezes.
David Berry Green

Mount Etna, famous for its black lava soils and elegant red wines made from the Nerello Mascalese and Cappuccio grapes, has been undergoing a revival over the last two decades. Alberto Graci has been making wine at Passopisciaro, on the northern slope of the volcano since 2004. He prefers to work as naturally as possible.

The Graci Etna Rosso is made of 100% Nerello Mascalese, coming from 15-year-old vines located at 600 to 700 metres above sea-level on the north-eastern slopes of Etna. The fruit undergoes a 20-day maceration on its skins, and is then matured in a mixture of cement tanks and botti grandi for 18 months. The resulting wine is elegant with a succulent nose of wild cherry, eucalyptus and blood orange. It is fresh yet enticing, with finely woven tannins and a smoky edge. Drink now to 2024.