Graci Etna Rosso

Alberto Aiello Graci returned from a career in Milan banking in 2004 to farm his family's land on the northern slopes of Mount Etna, and has since become one of the volcano's most celebrated voices. The estate's Nerello Mascalese vines are over a century old, own-rooted, and farmed without herbicides on the black ashy lava soils at 600 to 700 meters elevation. Fermented with wild yeast in cement and aged in large upright wooden tini — no barriques — the Etna Rosso is medium-bodied, perfumed, and texturally reminiscent of a cross between Pinot Noir and Nebbiolo: dried roses, red cherry, blood orange, and wild herbs on the nose; saline mineral tension, taut tannins, and a long, volcanic finish. A benchmark of the appellation's extraordinary revival.

Food Pairing: Roast pork with herbs, grilled sausages, pasta al ragù, aged Pecorino Siciliano, braised rabbit.