From the fantastic field, Contrada Barbabecchi 1000-1100 above sea level. Nerello Mascalese bushes + 100 year old bushes. Pre Phylloxera field. A field that can only be reached by Land Rover or similar. Alberto does nothing in the field apart from waiting well into November before he harvests and transports the grapes down in the Land Rover. The field Contrada Barbarbecchi is 1.5 ha. It gives a yield of 0.5 Hl/Ha. The wine is fermented on cement without temperature control and subsequently 24 months in Austrian casks.
Subsequently 12 months in bottle. The wine is pure Burgundy style. Absolutely fantastic.
Nerrello Mascalese with 1-2% Nerrello Cappucci.
Naturally biodynamic like everything from Graci. Perhaps Etna's best red wine.
From one of the highest growing sites on Etna (at 1,000 meters above sea level), the 2015 Quota 1000 Barbabecchi is an IGT wine because the physical limits of the appellation do not extend this high up the flank of the volcano. This is an elegant and complete expression of Nerello Mascalese that offers dark and compact fruit followed by elegant floral tones of wild rose and dark violets. This sultry expression shows balsam herb, tar, cigar box and salty mineral. The wine ends on a dry note, especially in this warm vintage, but there is enough acidity and firmness of texture to counter those dry or dusty tannins. Give the wine an extra year or two of bottle age to fill out further. I would have scored this wine higher if it were not for the dusty and astringent nature of the tannins, which feel a little unbalanced in my opinion.
