About Gaja & Graci
IDDA is a joint project between the Gaja family, of Barbaresco in Piedmont, and Alberto Graci, a producer on Etna. It works the southern slopes of the volcano, around Biancavilla and Belpasso, at 600 to 800 metres, with the native Etna varieties: Carricante for the white and Nerello Mascalese for the red and the rosato. The name is the Sicilian dialect word for "she", which is how the island refers to Etna.
Prices are for take away and shipping. The wine bar serves from its own list.
The winery
About Gaja & Graci
History
Idda is a shared project between the Gaja family of Piedmont and Alberto Graci, an Etna winemaker. Angelo Gaja and Graci met in 2015, and the venture began in 2016. Gaia Gaja, Angelo's eldest child, is part of it. Graci comes from a Sicilian landowning family and left banking to make wine on Etna's north face in 2004.
The name Idda means "she" in Sicilian, and it is what locals call the mountain.
The land and the vineyards
The partners chose Etna's south and southwest slopes, the hottest and driest side of the volcano and an area with few wineries. Two sites make up the estate. Biancavilla lies at about 800 metres and has around eleven hectares of vines, planted to Nerello Mascalese and Carricante. Belpasso lies at about 600 metres, where olive trees were cleared and some twelve hectares of Carricante now grow.
Much of the Belpasso land falls outside the Etna DOC, so the white carries the Sicilia name.
The wines
Two wines make up the range: a white from Carricante and a red from Nerello Mascalese, the Etna Rosso. The first red came in 2017, and the white followed the next year. Wine Spectator has scored four wines from the 2019 to 2022 vintages between 91 and 93 points.
Today
Winemaking moved in 2023 from Graci's cellar at Passopisciaro to a new winery in Belpasso, set into the hillside with views of Etna. Antonio La Fata leads production.
- Founded
- 2016
- Main grapes
- Carricante, Nerello Mascalese
- Owners
- Gaja family and Alberto Graci
- Winemaker
- Antonio La Fata