Ghandi - Pietrardita
When we started A Posto, we didn’t want to find wines in Sicily. We wanted to discover wines that no one else in the U.S., especially not importers, had ever tasted. Ghandi, owner and winemaker at Pietrardita falls right into that bucket. He only produces two wines from his small estate and in total about 2200 bottles per year.
We first met Ghandi at NOT Vini Franchi - a natural wine conference held in Palermo on January 15th, 2023. He was one of the over 100 producers from Italia and the rest of Europe that took part in this 3 day festival of all things vinified naturally. His red wine, Lahar, was vibrant, clear, fresh and mineral. The passion and dedication was clear, even in my broken Italian and Ghandi’s non-existent English.
We decided to make him one of our last visits before Andrea left back to the states on our trip. Like most of our vineyard trips, this started out with a WhatsApp discussion a few days before we arrived in Catania that culminated in a Google maps link to meet in the middle of Piedimonte Etneo. Leaving our Catania Airbnb into a very grey and dreary morning we made our way 40 minutes up the mountain.
Ghandi was waiting for us in his 1980s Fiat Panda with over 500,000 KMs, which looked rugged, utilitarian and honestly comical next to our brand new Fiat Panda. We followed him about 30 minutes across the mountain to contrada Biancavilla, in the south west corner of Etna. As Ghandi pulled off to the side of the road, it became clear that he wanted us to join him in his Panda for the rough ride out to the vineyard.
The drive started out passing gorgeous walls of orang trumpet vines that are all over the roadways up Etna. the stark volcanic rock walls often in a black or deep grey are acsentuated by the bursting orange and vivacious green of the cascading leaves. Until eventually most plants give way to trees (chestnut and other) and terraces of volcanic rock filled with dorminant vines and wood staves.
As we crawl up the mountain country road in this 50 year old car, we begin to pass dilapidated houses and villas from decades past. Every so often Ghandi would stop to tell us about different buildings and people who knew from the neighborhood. Our last stop before reaching the vines was a broken down old villa that he owns and has visions for one day turning into his winery and tasting room. Nestled into the mountain side, you can see how this remote tasting room would be a draw for anyone looking for an authentic Etna experience.
After a ride that I thought might bounce a few of my teeth loose, we finally arrive at Ghandi’s vineyard and are immediately struck by the rich, deep black soil. It could have been the rains of the day that drew out the color, but you could feel how fertile the land was and why he had chosen this location to plant his grapes. The second thing you noticed is how steep this vineyard is compared to others. Ghandi explained to us he was in process of terracing the hillside so that he could grow any grapes at all. Unlike our neat and orderly terraced yards in the states, these were made of extremely rough volcanic rock that Ghandi had taken directly from the soils where the vines were growing. He was hand building the terraces 1 by 1 with the help of family and friends. When a new terrace is complete, he can plant more vines, wait 5+ years and be ready to increase his harvest.
The vineyard was abandoned for 25 years before Ghandi started reconditioning it. Some of the terraced soil has a rich red color, showing the high iron content, and giving him two distinct terroirs to worth with. Ghandi doesn’t overcrowed his vines, planting roughly 5-6,000 plants per hectare, compared to some european vineyards that will go above 12,000 plants per hectare
The views were stunning, facing off into the west of Sicily with still some ocean views, but they were a little spoiled by the cloud cover of the day. After a brief walk through the vineyard, Ghandi took us to meet his friend and see his wine production.
Unlike a lot of vineyards in more discovered wine regions, Sicilian’s aren’t competing to promote their wine over others. This is a community and they support each other by sharing ideas, equipment, labor and it appeared, potential clients. The worse thing I’ve heard a Sicilian say about another producer is “I don’t prefer their wines” and when they know someone is making some great juice, they want to share them with the world. After a short drive, we get to his friend Antonio’s winery, Kephas, which is little more than a work shed with 4 small stainless steel tanks.
The four of us headed off to lunch and our chance to taste Ghandi’s wine’s again with some food. True to all our Sicilian experiences, a simple tasting isn’t what they had in store for us. They had made a reservation at Ristorante Boccaperta S.C., a previous Michelin Star winner, as we were told, and a wine lovers dream restaurant. What followed with a symphony of apertivo, primi, secondi and dolci. Ghandi and Antonio ordered a train of food that lasted over 2 hours. All paired with their incredible wines.
Pietrardita Lahar
This natural wine is grown at 840M above the sea in sandy and volcanic soils that are as black as the bottle. Ghandi prefers a Narello Mascalese dominant style (90%) to let the group show and pairs this with the traditional Narello Capuccio (5%) and the non-traditional 5% of various indigenous white varieties. His plants are 70-100 years old and take a long time to harvest - mid to late October each year.
This is one of our few fully natural wines that we import today at A Posto. The wine is aged 100% in steel for 10 months with spontaneous malolactic fermentation, with an additional few months of aging in the bottle. The wine is bottled without any clarification or filtration, giving it a slightly hazy look in the glass.
In the glass the wine is beautiful with a light ruby red color with purple reflections. On the nose hints of small red fruits - raspberry, pomegranate - and withered flower petals and citrus notes. In the mouth it is fresh, savory and has a good length of flavor, with velvety tannins. The wine is complex and while we haven’t laid any down yet, we and Ghandi think it lends itself to a pleasant evolution with aging.
We loved this wine with all sorts of antipasto, primi and meat courses. Ghandi recommends you pair it with your first course of vegetables or meat, or a second course of roast meat or fish and slightly matured cheeses.
