Tuscan wine dynasty Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi has bought a minority stake in the pioneering Mount Etna estate Tenute delle Terre Nere in Sicily. Frescobaldi issued a brief statement that said, “Marco De Grazia and Lamberto Frescobaldi come together once again to reflect on how to carry forward the beautiful project Marco began back in 2002.” The statement contained no details or purchase price but rather refers to “a project fueled by friendship, experience, and the desire to keep building.”
De Grazia told Wine Spectator that he will continue to run the estate. “It’s a partnership: nothing is going to change,” said De Grazia, 72. In the statement, De Grazia characterized the partnership as “a shared drive and passion for higher and finer goals, a wish to give shape to a clear and common intuition, and finally to craft finer and finer wines. Together.”
Marchesi de’ Frescobaldi confirmed the stake. Lamberto Frescobaldi, the 30th generation of winemaking Frescobaldis, spoke of the men’s longtime friendship, dating back to the time De Grazia was a influential American wine importer who introduced several of the “Barolo Boys,” a wave of Langhe winemakers trying new techniques, to the U.S. market.
“For me, Marco De Grazia has always been a true point of reference,” Frescobaldi, 62, said in the statement. “In the early 1990s, we spent many evenings together, opening countless bottles of wine. During those moments, I listened intently to every word he said: his constant pursuit of finesse in wine, his contagious energy, the clarity of his vision.”
After buying vineyards on Etna, De Grazia sold his Marc De Grazia Selections import company to his brother, Iano. With Terre Nere, he helped lead Etna’s 21st century renaissance to quality, with an emphasis on old vines from single vineyards, topped by Etna Prephylloxera La Vigna di Don Peppino Calderara Sottana Vecchie Vigne (2022, 95 points, $225). The estate, with more than 120 acres of vineyards planted in Etna’s volcanic soils, has produced more than 120 wines scoring 90 points or higher in Wine Spectator blind tastings.
Other Italian producers from outside the island have seen Etna’s potential. For example, Angelo Gaja formed a joint venture with local Alberto Graci in 2017.
Frescobaldi owns more than a dozen Tuscan estates, including legendary Ornellaia and Masseto in Bolgheri. The Etna stake represents the third foray by Frescobaldi outside Tuscany after the 2000 purchase of Attems in northeastern Italy’s Friuli-Venezia-Giulia and the 2023 acquisition of Domaine Roy & Fils in Oregon.
Stay on top of important wine stories with Wine Spectator’s free Breaking News Alerts.
