Sicily
Est. 2005 
9 wines 
Tastings
Tours
Booking required 
Wine area
Etna
Black volcanic terraces on Europe's highest active volcano, the home of Nerello Mascalese and Carricante.
Graci
Graci is a family wine estate on the north slope of Mount Etna, at Passopisciaro in the Alcantara valley of eastern Sicily. The Graci family started it in 2005. The vines grow between 600 and 1,000 metres up, some on old terraces, in five named districts of the volcano. Only Etna's own grapes are planted: Nerello Mascalese for the reds and Carricante for the whites. Four of the five districts get their own bottling. Four tastings can be booked, all starting in a 19th-century stone winery.
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Wines from Graci
About Graci
The Graci family set up the estate in 2005 at Passopisciaro, on the cooler north side of Etna. The winery is a stone palmento from the 1800s, the kind of building where Etna's grapes were once trodden. The family calls it an artisanal project that joins past and future. The woods around the vines are kept, the dry-stone walls are rebuilt, and nothing but Etna's native grapes is planted.
The vineyards sit between 600 and 1,000 metres above sea level, spread over five contrade of the north slope, with their names on the labels. Arcurìa is the biggest, about 28 football pitches of vines on five different volcanic soils, in a natural bowl open to the cold, dry north wind. Feudo di Mezzo is a single small plot of 80-year-old bush vines on fine volcanic sand, ringed by olive and almond trees. It is always the first to be picked. Barbabecchi lies at 1,000 metres at Solicchiata: century-old Nerello Mascalese on its own roots, on terraces among apple, chestnut and hazel trees. Grapes there are picked in November. Muganazzi, once the property of the physicist Ettore Majorana, adds Carricante at 700 metres. Santo Spirito, planted in 2019, is the youngest vineyard.
Every plot is handled on its own. A soil study in 2004 showed that one corner of Arcurìa, called Sopra il Pozzo, sits on layers of stone and coarse sand unlike anything around it. Tasted blind after every harvest, its wine always stands out for its clarity and depth. So it is bottled alone, but only in the best years. Quota 1000, from Barbabecchi, follows the same rule. The estate keeps its hands off as much as it can, in the vineyard and in the cellar, and says its wines are certified organic.
Nerello Mascalese makes the reds: Etna Rosso, and the single-vineyard Feudo di Mezzo, Arcurìa, Arcurìa Sopra il Pozzo and Quota 1000. Carricante makes the whites: Etna Bianco, Arcurìa and Muganazzi. There is an Etna Rosato too. Everything carries the Etna DOC apart from Quota 1000.
Visits are booked ahead and take about two hours. The classic tasting walks through the old winery and the vines and pours four wines. Two dearer sessions compare the districts side by side, or the same wines across different years. A fourth pairs Graci with the Buscemi estate to show how the north slope changes from west to east. There are no rooms and no restaurant.
Plate I · SICILY
Graci on the Sicily wine atlas
Winery
Graci
Passopisciaro, Catania · Etna
Denominations Produced
Grapes Used
Visit & Experiences
4 bookable experiences at Graci
4 tastings, checked by our editors. From €55.
Tasting
Classic Etna Wine Tasting at Graci Winery
From €55 per person
English and Italiano
Visit Graci’s 19th-century palmento, walk through the vineyards, and enjoy a technical tasting of 4 wines
Book this tasting
via Winedering
Tasting
Contrade Through Time: Etna Wine Tasting at Graci Winery
From €150 per person
English and Italiano
A unique experience that brings together wine and history, exploring the contrade and their evolution over time.
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via Winedering
Tasting
Five Etna Contrade Wine Tasting at Graci Winery
From €100 per person
English and Italiano
The tasting offers insight into how soil composition, altitude, and microclimate shape the character of each wine.
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via Winedering
Tasting
Two Souls of Etna North: Graci & Buscemi Wine Tasting
From €80 per person
English and Italiano
A journey across the northern slopes of Mount Etna, from west to east, to capture the nuances that make each area unique.
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via Winedering
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Plan your visit
Contrada Feudo di Mezzo, SP7iii, Passopisciaro, 95012 Castiglione di Sicilia (CT)
What Graci makes
Graci's current bottle selection is led by Etna DOC. The clearest grape signal comes from Nerello Mascalese and Carricante.
Denominations
Key grapes
Common questions
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At Contrada Feudo di Mezzo on the SP7 road at Passopisciaro, on the north slope of Mount Etna. It is in the district of Castiglione di Sicilia. The vineyards spread across the Alcantara valley from 600 to 1,000 metres above sea level.
Plan a visit
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