16/10/2025
🍇 Calabria: Italy's Ancient Wine Heritage
with over 90% native wine v
📜 Ancient Roots
Calabria was called Enotria: the "Land of Wine" by the ancient Greeks, with winemaking dating back to the 8th Century BC.
• Cirò's Legend: The local Cirò wine is rumored to have been served to winners of the ancient Olympic Games!
🍇 Native Grapes
• 🔴 Gaglioppo: The King of Calabrian red grapes. It's the base for the region's most famous wine, Cirò DOC, producing bold, structured, and age-worthy reds with notes of cherry and spice.
• Magliocco: A major red grape that provides deeply colored, often tannic, and complex wines, especially in the Terre di Cosenza DOC.
• Magliocco Dolce: Often produces elegant, deep-colored, and smoother, more rounded wines.
• **Magliocco Canino: Known for its structure and acidity, contributing to longevity.
• Greco Nero: A dark-skinned variety used in various blends and sometimes as a varietal wine. It is planted in several DOCs (Designation of Origin Controlled) across the region.
• Nerello Calabrese (also often referred to as Calabrese or a local strain of Nero d'Avola): Despite the name, the grape known as Calabrese is genetically the same as Nero d'Avola (more famous in Sicily), but it's grown and has a distinct identity in Calabria.
• Nocera: Used in red and rosé blends, particularly in the Bivongi DOC.
• Nerello Mascalese and Nerello Cappuccio: These grapes are more commonly associated with Sicily (especially Mount Etna), but they are also successfully grown and form the basis of some Calabrian red wines, such as in the Lamezia DOC.
• ⚪ Greco Bianco: The primary white grape, known for crisp, aromatic dry whites and also highly prized dessert wine.
• Mantonico (Bianco)
• Pecorello
• Zibibbo di Pizzo
• Guardavalle
• Guarnaccia (used also in some sweet wines like Moscato di Saracena)
📍 Important Wine Regions
• Cirò DOC/DOCG: Calabria’s most internationally known appellation. Look for Cirò Rosso (red) and Cirò Rosato (rosé) made predominantly from Gaglioppo.
• Terre di Cosenza DOC: A large, quality DOC in the north, focusing heavily on Magliocco.
