Volcano Wine: A Sneak Peek of What We’ll Taste at the “Talk Dirty To Me” Dinner

Talk Dirty To Me is coming up, where we’ll explore five wines grown in absolutely bonkers soils over a five-course meal. We thought we’d tease you with one of the fascinating bottles we’ll be drinking on the night.

Mount Etna sits on the island of Sicily and is Europe’s highest and most active volcano. It erupts regularly — and there are brave souls who grow grapes for wine there.

It’s a tough place to grow anything. But vines famously thrive in poor soils — where the energy is focused on producing tasty grapes rather than endless leafy growth in fertile ground. On Etna, the soils are made up of decomposed lava, volcanic ash and basalt, built up over centuries of eruptions. They’re loose, mineral-rich and exceptionally free-draining, forcing roots to dig deep in search of water and nutrients.

Volcanic soils like these tend to produce wines with clarity, lift and tension — often with a subtle smoky or savoury edge. Add to that Etna’s altitude (many vineyards sit high on the slopes), and you get notable day–night temperature shifts despite the mountain’s proximity to the warmth of the Mediterranean Sea. Grapes ripen in the heat of the day, then slow down at night, which helps preserve freshness and aromatic detail, giving them a longer season to develop layers of complex flavour.

The dominant grape here is Nerello Mascalese, often supported by a touch of Nerello Cappuccio. Nerello Mascalese is pale in colour but structured, fragrant and fine-boned — think red berries, dried herbs, sometimes a whisper of spice — with the ability to age gracefully. It’s often compared to Nebbiolo for its elegance and shape, though it is very much its own thing. For me, though, when I see Etna, I want to smell and taste that flinty character that seems to seep in from the hot, rumbling earth below.

The bottle we’ll be pouring is IDDA Etna Rosso, a collaboration between Angelo Gaja — of Barbaresco and Barolo fame — and Etna producer Alberto Graci. Gaja helped define the modern era of fine Nebbiolo in Piemonte before expanding into regions such as Montalcino and Bolgheri. His move into Etna signalled just how significant this volcanic region has become.

Graci has been one of the leading figures in Etna’s quality renaissance over the past two decades, focusing on high-altitude vineyards and site expression long before Etna became internationally fashionable.

Sicily itself has one of the oldest wine cultures in Europe, shaped by Greek, Roman and later Spanish influences. For centuries it was known more for volume than finesse. Etna is part of the island’s modern reawakening — a region proving that Sicily can produce wines of precision and personality.

This bottle captures exactly what “Talk Dirty To Me” is about: how soil, landscape and history shape what ends up in your glass.

And this dinner carries a little extra emotion. After more than a decade of hosting tasting experiences, BOCA is closing their DIFC doors, and this will be our final event there. We hear they’ll be back in a new location, which is wonderful news — but this is the end of an era. They’ve been an incredible partner to us since day one and remain, in our opinion, Dubai’s truest wine bar.

They may also need a little help clearing out that cellar before they close their doors. A challenge we are more than willing to rise to.

Etna Rosso is just one of the five wines we’ll be exploring.

Come curious. Leave a little dirty. 

BOOK HERE