GRACI

Alberto Graci’s first vintage was in 2004, when he returned home after working in Milan’s finance scene. His story is familiar, as many winemakers give up their city work life for a life in the fields. As humans, this c to call to work and live off the land is ingrained deep within us, though not all of us are able to answer. Making the choice is profound and typically those who do choose a life in the campagna do so with intention. Alberto’s philosophy is respect for local traditions and only cultivates varieties indigenous to Mount Etna: Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, and white grapes Carricante and Catarratto. The vineyards are certified organic with extra discerning use of any copper or sulphur sprays (as permitted by the Organic certification). They do not use herbicides or fungicides in order to preserve integrtiy and nutrients of the soil.

The Graci vineyards sit at an altitude between 600 and 1,000 meters above sea level. In order to bottle as an Etna DOC, the grapes cannot come from above 800m asl. Therefore, out of Graci’s 6 labels, 5 fall under the Etna DOC while his 6th label, Contrada Barbabecchi, does not as the Contrada is at 1000m, outside of the DOC limitations for the Northern slopes. Many of the vines are still on original rootstock, ungrafted, having never been affected by the phylloxera scourge thanks to the unique nature of the volcanic soils.

Graci does not use French barriques, but only vertical large wooden ‘tini’ and large, well-seasoned wooden barrels. Their sole objective is to reflect the personalities of the vineyards and the differences between the different harvests. His wines are vibrant and fresh and surely would be what we consider the more elegant side of Etna wines—classic Northern slope expression.