Graci, Quota 1000 Barbabecchi, Etna Rosso 2019 - 75cl
This is the top of Graci's range, and one of the most extreme vineyards on Etna. Quota 1000 comes from Contrada Barbabecchi, an old-vine parcel of Nerello Mascalese perched between 1,000 and 1,100 metres on the volcano's northern slope — pre-phylloxera ungrafted vines growing on their own roots, some well over a century old.
At that altitude you are near the ceiling for growing red grapes at all. The nights are cold, the season long, and the fruit ripens slowly on ancient bush vines in black volcanic sand. Alberto Graci ferments in truncated-cone oak vats with wild yeasts and no temperature control, then ages the wine for around three years in large casks. It is Etna reduced to its purest, most vertical form.
The 2019 is pale and almost weightless to look at, but the perfume is enormous — red currant, wild strawberry and pomegranate lifted by violet and rose, with volcanic ash, dried herbs and flint underneath. On the palate it's all energy: electric acidity, fine chalky tannin and a saline, mineral-soaked finish that goes on and on. This drinks well now with air but genuinely rewards the cellar — give it a decade and it will be extraordinary.
How to Serve
Serve at 15-16°C. Decant an hour ahead, or better, cellar it. A large Burgundy glass is essential to catch the aromatics.
Where to Drink It
Noble Rot Mayfair, where a bottle this rare belongs on the table. Trivet for a special-occasion tasting menu. Planque in Haggerston, a cellar built for exactly this sort of collector wine.
Food Pairings
Keep the food quiet and let the wine lead — roast partridge or a simple risotto with porcini. Truffle over fresh tagliatelle would be the indulgent move.
