4.5/5 · Excellent
93 POINTS
  • Graci Siciliana Rosso IGT Contrada Barbabecchi 2015
1 1
GRACI

Graci Siciliana Rosso IGT Contrada Barbabecchi 2015

Graci Siciliana Rosso IGT Contrada Barbabecchi 2015

Critic ratings

  • 93POINTS Wine AdvocateMonica Larner
€121,95 EUR
€121,95 EUR
SALE - SAVE % SOLD OUT
Taxes included. Shipping calculated at checkout.

In stock

Food pairings

  • Lamb
  • Poultry
  • Mushrooms and mushroom dishes
  • Hard cheese
  • Pasta with meat sauce

Try it with

  • Grilled lamb chops
  • Coq au vin
  • Pork loin with mushroom sauce
This is an elegant Etna red wine in a Burgundy style, where the mineral, volcanic character, the red fruit and the fine smoky tone play the leading role rather than powerful tannins. The tannins are delicate and supple, so you shouldn't seek out the very heaviest dishes, but instead something with moderate richness and a slightly earthy or smoked character that can meet the wine's structure without drowning it out. The grilled, spiced surface on lamb or poultry suits the smoke and fruit notes, while mushrooms and aged cheese play up to the minerality. Don't serve it too cold, so the supple texture is allowed to unfold.

Taste profile

Product details

Country Italy
Region Sicily
Vintage 2015
Classification Sicilia Rosso IGT
Grapes Nerello Mascalese
Bottle size 75 cl
Alcohol 14%
Cork type Cork

About the wine

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.

Critic reviews

93Monica Larner
Wine Advocate
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.
View full details