GRACI Etna Rosso 2017

(Etna, Sicily) $29

From nerello mascalese grapes grown on the northern slopes of the active volcano Mt. Etna (which has been steadily erupting since last week, belching smoke, ash, and fountains of red-hot lava!), comes this beautiful red from Graci, a small estate founded in 2004. You have to be a bit braced for wines from nerello mascalese. For all their pale colors and their lovely cranberry, sour cherry, and earth flavors, they slam down on the palate with steel doors of tannin. The answer is so very Italian: EAT!!! Nerello mascalese shows what it was made for when there’s some spaghetti al siciliana on the table. With fond memories of his grandfather’s humble Sicilian wines in his head, Alberto Graci gave up his career as an investment banker in Milan and embarked on a different kind of risky speculation: he bought land at 1800 feet (600 meters) on the slopes of the active volcano Mt. Etna, and started making stellar wines. (14% abv)

94 points KM

Available at K&L Wine Merchants