Idda

A partnership between Angelo Gaja and Alberto Graci which begun in 2016 on the east coast of Sicily. Etna is one of the most valued and in vogue regions for unique and terroir expressive wines. The Gaja and Graci families own 20 hectares of vineyards, between 600m and 800m above sea level, in the village of Belpasso and Biancavilla.

“Gaja’s IDDA project began in 2006 when Angelo Gaja met Alberto Graci but the roots of Angelo’s affection for Etna began long before in the 1990s when he visited his friend Giacomo Tachis, the man behind Sassicia. Gaja had studied wine making with Tachis in Alba, and Tachis encouraged him to buy land on Etna. The time was not right for Gaja but the region got under his skin. In 2016 he met Etna grower Alberto Graci and with his help, created IDDA. Idda means ‘she’ in Sicilian dialect and refers of course to the mountain itself whom the locals have christened with the feminine pronoun. Etna has become very hip of late and populated by well know names such as Franchetti, Marco de Grazia, and Tenuta delle Terre Nere. These are mainly based on the on the North slope. Rather than join that party, Gaja chose to focus on the underdeveloped pistachio-laden south slope and Italy’s indigenous white grape Carricante which is all they are actually planting, although they have inherited ten hectares of Nerello Mascalese” – Wine Anorak