Wines from Calabria

Wines from Calabria

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    Calabria is a wine region of southern Italy, effectively a large peninsula jutting out between the Ionian Sea and the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is divided from Sicily by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its northern border with Basilicata is marked by the southern Apennine peaks.

    The region is home to 12 DOC titles, although it still lacks a DOCG title. Between them, these 12 cover just five percent of the region's total wine output. The production restrictions they require are not counterbalanced by the prices they command, making them an unattractive prospect to producers. Calabria's oldest and most famous DOC wine appelation is Ciro, regrettably the only Calabrian wine to command great respect in the 20th and early 21st Centuries. It remains the only significant reminder of Calabria's potential as a source of high-quality wine, particularly in its Ciro Rosso Riserva form. The only other Calabrian wine of any note is Greco di Bianco. This is, confusingly, a white dried-grape sweet wine from the Bianco commune on Calabria's south-east coast, made from the Greco Bianco grape. The latter is distinct from Campania's Greco.

    The Terre di Cosenza DOC is the source some of the wines most likely to restore Calabrian wine's lofty reputation. Along the east coast between Ciro and Bianco are Bivongi, Melissa and the tiny coastal DOC of S.Anna di Isola di Capo.

    Almost all of these areas favor the red Gaglioppo and Greco Nero grape varieties. White wines are predominantly made from Greco Bianco, Trebbiano Toscano and Malvasia Bianca. Sicilian varieties such as red Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio, and white Ansonica, are increasingly popular and suit the Calabrian terroir well. (© Wine-Searcher). 

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