“Idda” Carricante Sicilia DOC 2025

Alberto Graci / Angelo Gaja | Sicily
Az. Agr. Graci | Contrada Arcurìa Passopisciaro | IT 95012 Castiglione di Sicilia

19250325 · 0,75 l · 61,33 €/l · Price (DE) incl. VAT, excl. Shippingavailable immediately

Gaia Gaja overheard two farmers in the vineyard. "Idda's in a bad mood today," said one. "Yes, I don't like it when I don't know what Idda's up to," replied the other. When Gaia asked who this Idda was, Alberto Graci explained to her: "That's what we call the mountain. Mount Etna. Feminine, capricious and motherly all at once – a force you live with and rely on every day." Angelo Gaja had known Mount Etna long before it became a project. In the 1990s, his friend Giacomo Tachis tried to persuade him to buy vineyards here. The sight of the black volcano with its snow-capped peak, seen from the air, remained etched in his memory. Decades later, he founded Idda together with Alberto Graci – making a conscious decision to focus on Carricante and to rediscover the south-western slope, that side of Mount Etna often described as the 'counter-current', away from the more famous northern flank.

The vines grow on a 'dagala' – in the Sicilian dialect, an island of earth formed by the divergence and convergence of ancient lava flows – a little gem set in rock. Altitude 700 to 800 metres, in the municipality of Biancavilla. Carricante ripens late – so late, in fact, that the harvest here often begins after Gaja's own Nebbiolo harvest in Piedmont. Three weeks' fermentation, twelve months' ageing, partly in oak barrels and partly in steel.

Pale straw yellow. On the nose, white flowers, almond and marzipan, along with herbal notes and flint. On the palate, it is fresh and spicy-mineral, with a pleasant sweetness balanced by lively acidity. Etna in its feminine voice. SUPERIORE.DE