Graci - Organic Volcanic Excellence

Taste organic wines from Alberto Aiello Graci, who left banking in 2004 to revive family vineyards on Etna's north slope. Experience single-Contrada wines from Arcuria (52 acres, 550-600m) and Barbabecchi (pre-phylloxera vines over 100 years old at 900-1280m), using large oak barrels to express pure terroir.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Stand on the Soil the Phoenicians Named 'Furnace' History · Free

   The Phoenicians reached Mount Etna's coast around 1100 BCE — and they named what they saw. The word 'Etna' almost certainly comes from attuna, Phoenician for 'furnace' or 'chimney.' They were the first to plant vines on these volcanic slopes, and 3,000 years later you're drinking wine from the same lava-black earth. Walk the alberello vineyards around the winery before your tasting to feel the rock underfoot before you taste it in the glass.

   Where: The vineyard rows immediately surrounding Graci's winery at Contrada Feudo di Mezzo, SP7iii, Passopisciaro (arrive 15 minutes early for your appointment). No admission, no guide needed — just walk between the rows.

   What: These gnarled, freestanding bush vines are trained in alberello — 'little tree' — an ancient form requiring no wire, no trellis, no support. The vines look like arthritic hands clutching black volcanic soil. The oldest ones here are 80 years old. The soil beneath your feet is volcanic ash and pumice from eruptions centuries apart — a 1614 lava flow has completely different mineral composition than one from 1879 or 1947. You're standing on geology that no winery in France, Spain, or Germany can offer. The Phoenicians called this place a furnace. The vines called it home.

   How: Email info@graci.eu at least one week ahead to book your tasting. Ask to arrive early to walk the Feudo di Mezzo rows before your appointment. Free, no charge. Best light: morning before 10am in summer. Bring closed-toe shoes — the lava rock is sharp.

   Backup: If access to vineyard rows isn't possible, ask your host during the tasting to describe the geological difference between Feudo di Mezzo (600m, 80-year vines) and Barbabecchi (1,000m, 115-year ungrafted vines) — the story is the same even from the tasting room.

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2. 2 Taste the Wine That Wouldn't Exist Without a Plague It Survived Wine · Price: high

   In the 1870s, phylloxera — a microscopic louse from North America — destroyed virtually every ungrafted vine in Europe. Winemakers ripped out centuries of history and regrafted onto American rootstock. Except on Etna. Volcanic sandy soils stop phylloxera cold. The vines at Contrada Barbabecchi were planted around 1910 — and they're still on their own original roots, drinking from 115 years of unbroken volcanic depth. There are 2 hectares of them. The wine they produce costs around €145 a bottle. It tastes like surviving.

   Where: Graci tasting room, Contrada Feudo di Mezzo, Passopisciaro. Book via info@graci.eu. Tours with tasting typically run €35–€62 per person depending on wine selection.

   What: Ask specifically for 'Quota 1000 Contrada Barbabecchi' in your tasting — this is the crown jewel. The name tells you everything: Quota 1000 means altitude 1,000 metres. Contrada Barbabecchi is the specific lava-defined district. The wine is 100% Nerello Mascalese from ungrafted vines planted circa 1910 on north/north-east facing slopes. When it arrives, the color will shock you — it's lighter than a Pinot Noir, almost translucent ruby. Smell: wild cherry, blood orange, tobacco spice, and a note critics call 'smoky ash.' This is not a metaphor — the soil IS volcanic ash. Taste: ferocious tannins balanced by volcanic acidity, with a finish that registers as mildly salty. Scores: 91–94/100 across vintages.

   Backup: If Barbabecchi is not available or out of budget (~€145/bottle), request the Arcuria Etna Rosso (~€28, 93–94 points) and ask the host to explain the difference between a 600m contrada and a 1,000m one. The terroir education IS the tasting.

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3. 3 Find the White Wine That Grows on 1,000-Year-Old Volcanic Memory Wine · Price: moderate

   Carricante is Etna's great white grape — ancient, ferocious, and completely misunderstood outside Italy. It has grown on these volcanic slopes for at least 1,000 years, possibly tracing back to the Phoenicians who planted vines here before the Greeks arrived. It is not a gentle white wine. It ages like Riesling, developing petrol and flint over a decade. Fresh, it smells of oyster shells and white peach with a saline finish that makes no sense until you realize you're tasting 1,000 meters of volcanic altitude. The 2023 Graci Arcuria Bianco scored 95 out of 100.

   Where: Graci tasting room, same appointment as Step 2. Request the Carricante-based wines as part of your tasting.

   What: Ask for the Arcuria Etna Bianco (~€59/bottle, 95 points James Suckling 2023). The host will explain that Graci ferments this wine in two vessels simultaneously: concrete tanks and large old oak barrels — not to add oak flavor, but to add texture. The wine spends a year on lees, then another year in bottle before release. When you taste it: look for the 'oyster shell and white peach' on the nose, then the 'almost tingling' volcanic minerality on the finish. The salinity is real — Etna's volcanic soils leach minerals into the fruit. This is a white wine that tastes like geography.

   Backup: The entry-level Graci Etna Bianco is around €20–25 in local wine shops and gives a genuine introduction to Carricante. Ask any wine shop in Passopisciaro or Castiglione di Sicilia for it.

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4. 4 Climb to the Castle That Minted Its Own Coins — and Taste Inside It History · Price: low

   Three kilometers uphill from Passopisciaro, Castiglione di Sicilia sits on a volcanic cliff where humans have lived continuously since the Bronze Age. In 1233, Frederick II of Swabia granted this town the name 'Animosa' — the Spirited — and the privilege of minting its own money. The 12th-century castle of Ruggero di Lauria is still standing. And inside it, tucked without any sign on the door, is the Enoteca Regionale per la Sicilia Orientale — the Eastern Sicily Regional Wine Cellar — where you can taste Etna wines for around €10 for three glasses.

   Where: Castle of Ruggero di Lauria, Castiglione di Sicilia (approx. 37.886, 15.039). The Enoteca is inside the castle — look for the main castle gate, no signage outside. GPS: Via delle Torre, Castiglione di Sicilia 95012.

   What: The castle was first documented in 1092 when Norman Count Roger I took this hill from the Arabs. In 1233 Frederick II crowned it with coin-minting rights — an extraordinary honor in medieval Sicily. Today the castle houses the regional wine collection for Eastern Sicily. Tastings cost around €10 for 3 glasses. This is where you taste the broader Etna DOC context — other producers from Nerello Mascalese across the contrade — 133 registered in the production code, 142 on the consortium's 2022 area map.

   How: Castiglione di Sicilia is 3km north of Passopisciaro on the SS120 — a 7-minute drive or 45-minute walk uphill. Best combined with the Graci visit: morning vineyard walk + Graci tasting, then drive up to the castle for afternoon context tasting. The village is listed among I Borghi più Belli d'Italia — allow 30–45 minutes to walk the medieval lanes after your tasting.

   Backup: If the Enoteca is closed, Castiglione has a wine bar called Vitis in the town center offering local pours. Or simply walk the medieval lanes to the cliff edge for the view over the terraced Etna vineyards — free and one of the finest views in Sicily.

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5. 5 Watch the Active Volcano That Is Still Making Your Wine's Soil Adventure · Free

   The story that makes Graci's wines impossible to replicate anywhere else on Earth is still happening. Right now. Mount Etna erupted in August 2024 and again in February 2025 — sending lava down its southwestern face. Every eruption creates new volcanic soil. Every new flow becomes, in 300 years, someone's Contrada, someone's ungrafted old vines, someone's 95-point Carricante. The north face trail from Passopisciaro lets you walk through multiple lava epochs — from black fresh rock to ancient ash so decomposed it's soft as garden soil. You'll understand in your legs what you tasted with your mouth.

   Where: Start from the SP7 road just north of Passopisciaro village, heading upslope toward Piano Provenzana (north Etna). The lower trail sections (below 1,500m) require no guide.

   What: The north slope has no cable car and far fewer tourists than the south. You walk through a living geological timeline: fresh black lava (recent flows, no vegetation) → sparse pioneer plants on grey ash → dense scrub on older flows → soil-covered terraced vineyards. Between about 600m and 800m you'll walk THROUGH the active winery contrade. Look for the dry-stone walls (muretti a secco) built by hand to create flat terraces — this is the same terracing system the Phoenicians and Greeks used on these slopes 2,500 years ago. You're walking through unbroken human agricultural history.

   How: Free. Wear sturdy shoes — lava rock is unforgiving. Bring water. Best in morning before heat builds. Avoid areas above 2,500m without an authorized guide (currently restricted due to eruptive risk). The Etna Park visitor center in Randazzo (20 min north) can provide current trail status. Trail length suggestion: 3–5km return from Passopisciaro upslope.

   Backup: If trail access is restricted, drive the SS120 from Passopisciaro to Randazzo — a 20-minute drive through terraced alberello vineyards with Etna looming overhead. Pull over anywhere — the vineyards are unfenced and visible from the road. The view alone justifies the detour.

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Insider tips

• Request the Barbabecchi Nerello Mascalese - from vines surviving since before phylloxera

• Angelo Gaja partnered with Graci to create Idda wines

• The winery view of Etna's fuming peak is spectacular

• All wines are organic; natural winemaking philosophy