Fedegraziani is not the usual winery story. No inherited château. No dusty family myth. It begins with Federico Graziani, one of Italy’s most respected sommeliers, who arrived on Mount Etna through curiosity and stayed because the place refused to let him go.
Founded in 2006, the estate is built around ancient vineyards on the northern and north-western slopes of Etna, between 600 and 1,200 metres above sea level. This is one of Europe’s most dramatic wine landscapes: volcanic soils, brutal temperature shifts, old alberello vines, and small plots that feel more discovered than planted. Graziani often describes Etna as “an island within an island”, and it shows in the wines. They do not behave like standard Sicilian reds. They are vertical, tense, aromatic, smoky, sometimes wild. Good.
The heart of the estate is in Feudo di Mezzo, near Passopisciaro, where Graziani saved a century-old vineyard from being uprooted. From this vineyard came Profumo di Vulcano, the wine that defined the project: an old-vine field blend of Nerello Mascalese, Nerello Cappuccio, Alicante, Francisi, and several white grapes, all growing together like a small living archive of Etna.
Today, Fedegraziani works only 6 hectares of estate-owned vineyards, with production capped at around 22,000 bottles per year. Everything is small, manual, and deeply tied to place. The vines are trained in the traditional alberello system, supported by chestnut poles, planted at high density, and farmed in terrain where machines are mostly useless. This is not romantic marketing. It is simply the cost of working properly on Etna.
The wines follow the same logic: authentic before perfect, precise without becoming polished to death. They speak of volcanic sand, old vines, altitude, rain, wind, and the stubborn elegance of Nerello Mascalese. Fedegraziani belongs to the rare category of producers that can interest both the serious sommelier and the restless wine drinker. The one looking for something that has not already been flattened by the market.
For a wine list, this is Etna with a pulse. Not just another volcanic red. A producer with edge, intellect, and real soil under the nails.
Who is Federico Graziani?
Federico Graziani is one of Italy’s most respected sommelier-turned-winemakers. His career in wine began unusually early. At 15, he enrolled in his first wine-tasting course. By 19, he was already working professionally as a taster, and in 1998, at just 23, he won the AIS competition as Best Sommelier in Italy.
That recognition opened the door to some of the most important names in Italian gastronomy. Graziani went on to work alongside chefs including Gualtiero Marchesi, Carlo Cracco, Aimo and Nadia Moroni, Stefano Cavallini and Bruno Loubet, building a reputation based on an unusually deep understanding of wine from both the restaurant floor and the cellar.
His curiosity eventually pushed him beyond service. Graziani studied Viticulture and Oenology, graduating in 2006. That same year, a meeting with Salvo Foti changed the direction of his career. Through Foti, he began exploring the old vineyards of Mount Etna and became increasingly fascinated by the region’s ancient vines, native varieties and highly distinctive growing conditions.
When Graziani discovered that a century-old vineyard in Passopisciaro was about to be uprooted, he bought it. Rather than watch part of Etna’s viticultural history disappear, he decided to become a grower himself.
That vineyard became the foundation of his first wine, Profumo di Vulcano, and marked the transition from one of Italy’s leading sommeliers to a winemaker with a very personal approach to wine.
Today, Federico Graziani brings together both sides of his career: the perspective of someone who has spent decades tasting the world’s great wines, and the discipline of someone responsible for farming and making his own.
Wines
75% Nerello Mascalese, 15% Nerello Cappuccio, 10% field blend of Alicante, Francisi, Carricante, Grecanico, Minnella
