Calabria

Calabria

Occupying the front of Italy’s boot with its toes almost grazing Sicily, Calabria is perhaps the least glamorous and least well known of Italy’s wine regions. Ravaged by the social and economic fallout of two World Wars, The Great Depression, Fascism, corruption, organised crime and feudalism, Calabria saw a debilitating exodus of its people in the 20th century, rendering the rugged province desperately poor and severely undermanned. And though there are distinctly positive steps being made to advance production of quality wine, it is unquestionably at the rear of the revolution – and by some good margin. Having said that, its dramatic landscape appears well suited to yielding wine of substance, offering elevation to moderate the southern sun and a poverty of soil that favours the production of characterful wines. 

Calabria produces a not insignificant amount of wine, principally from the autochthonous varieties, Gaglioppo (red) and Greco (white); ...READ MORE

Calabria

Occupying the front of Italy’s boot with its toes almost grazing Sicily, Calabria is perhaps the least glamorous and least well known of Italy’s wine regions. Ravaged by the social and economic fallout of two World Wars, The Great Depression, Fascism, corruption, organised crime and feudalism, Calabria saw a debilitating exodus of its people in the 20th century, rendering the rugged province desperately poor and severely undermanned. And though there are distinctly positive steps being made to advance production of quality wine, it is unquestionably at the rear of the revolution – and by some good margin. Having said that, its dramatic landscape appears well suited to yielding wine of substance, offering elevation to moderate the southern sun and a poverty of soil that favours the production of characterful wines. 

Calabria produces a not insignificant amount of wine, principally from the autochthonous varieties, Gaglioppo (red) and Greco (white); however, much of it is made for the jug or demijohn and understandably never leaves the region. Cirò is the DOC of note, centred on the ancient town of the same name and the coastal town of Cirò Marina. In modern times Calabria has had one, at best two, standard bearers for quality wine production, but the ranks of interesting makers is slowly swelling and it is certainly a region on the rise.

Principal denominations: Bivongi DOC, Cirò DOC, Greco di Bianco DOC, Melissa DOC, Terre di Cosenza DOC
Important white varieties: Greco, Malvasia, Mantonico
Important red varieties: Gaglioppo, Magliocco, Nerello Cappuccio

 

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