Earlier this month our
Italian Food, Wine & Travel group (#ItalianFWT) featured the
region of Calabria. Calabria is situated at the pointy tip of
the boot. Reminds me of all the wonderful Italian leather shoes they
have over there and those that I brought home with the pointy toe.
It's closely situated to Sicily and is seperated by the Strait of
Messina. Calabria is known as the enotria, land of wine, and
was a name granted by the Greek settlers that first settled here.
The winery I'm sharing with you today, Librandi, states on their site that they are “cuore mediterraneo”, mediterranean at the heart. Based on where they are situated and the wines they produce demonstrate their mediterranean heart and soul of what the mediterranean is all about.
The winery I'm sharing with you today, Librandi, states on their site that they are “cuore mediterraneo”, mediterranean at the heart. Based on where they are situated and the wines they produce demonstrate their mediterranean heart and soul of what the mediterranean is all about.
To stay true to the theme this month I
wanted to share probably one of the most known red grapes from
Calabria, gaglioppo. You may have never heard of it, but if
you at least known that much you're off to a good start. Most likely
if you are to look for red wines from Calabria you'll see Ciro wines
from the Ciro area of Calabria and these are primarily based
on the gaglioppo grape.
 |
| Gaglioppo grapes by Fabio Ingrosso |
The Librandi winery is one of the
well-known wineries of this region in Calabria. The winery was
initially founded by Nicodemo and Antonio and today is run by
Nicodemo and his family. The Librandi winery partners with 42
associates within the Ciro DOC and sources their grapes only from
this area.
I had tried the 2009 Librandi Duca San
Felice Ciro Rosso Classico Superiore Riserva DOC. Wow that's a
mouthful! The Duca San Felice wine is is named after the oldest
vineyard owned by the Librandi family and it was the last vineyard
planted by the father, Raffaele Librandi. It's located in the Ciro
area of Calabria and is considered one of the cru sites named Ponta.
I always value the wineries that
experimenting with new grapes or restoring those ancient grapes of
the past that face extinction. The Librandi family is doing just
that working and experimenting with grapes such as mantonico
bianco, magliocco, arvino and pecorello. I wrote about these
grapes earlier this month, specifically magliocco
and mantonico bianco. Personally, I had never heard of any these
so it would be great if they could be reintroduced to the repertoire
of wines that Calabria offers.
The 2009 Librandi Duca San Felice
Ciro Rosso Classico Superiore Riserva DOC is made 100% from
gaglioppo.and is aged 3 years in stainless steel with an additional
few months in the bottle. is clear in color with garnet hues. A dry
wine, medium bodied, smooth with moderate tannin. On the palate are
notes of tea leaves, roses and some spice. This wine retails about
$19.
Have you tried this particular wine
or the wines of Librandi, or better yet any of the wines from
Calabria?
Don't be shy to tell me your stories. I love to hear from my readers.
Don't be shy to tell me your stories. I love to hear from my readers.
Source: Librandi
Winery
