Tag: wine

Biological Wines of Calabria

11.11.2018

MEDITERRANEAN DIET, TRENDS AND CALABRIA F&B

According to a report FAO of 2015 (Rome, see the report here), economic globalization is shifting the populations of the Mediterranean from the consumption of fruit, vegetables and legumes, in favor of milk and meat derivatives.

At the same time the phenomena of undernourishment are growing in the same basin, with dangerously increasing overweight and obesity. This is the scenario that emerges from a report published by FAO and the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies. For the future, policies aimed at the sustainability of food diets are desirable, with the greater diffusion of foods based on vegetable oil, cereals, vegetables and legumes and a moderate consumption of fish and meat.

The same can be said for the wine, the trend of beverages [see the FAO report (p.14 paper / p. 28 PDF file)] is toward “an increase in the consumption of beverages and foodstuffs with a high carbohydrate content, and a simultaneous decrease in the consumption of starches“.

 

BIOLOGICAL WINE IN CALABRIA

This explains the added value of organic wine, as an healthy beverage. Organic farming, unlike conventional farming, limits environmental impact to a minimum, preserves and regenerates biodiversity, respects natural balances and prohibits the use of pesticides, herbicides and chemical synthesis fertilizers.

The organic winemakers treat the fertility of the soil with natural systems and only in case of necessity they resort to fertilizers and organic soil amendments and mineral rocks allowed by the European regulations. Plant diseases and harmful insects are fought using only defense products of natural origin or techniques of biological fight.

Calabria developed a huge number of organic vineyards. In the biological winemaking the additives and technological adjuvants and the technologies that are too invasive and problematic for health, both for man and for the environment, are forbidden. The places where this kind of production happens are the same where the following grapes are cultivated: the areas of Gaglioppo, Magliocco dolce, Magliocco canino, Greco nero, Calabrese nero, Aglianico.

In particular, Gaglioppo has attracted the most attention, as it represents more than 50% of Calabrian vines and is able to better interpret the Calabrian terroir and biological winemaking.

Calabrian Organic wines guarantee a sulfite content that is always below the maximum limits for conventional wines. In Europe, the maximum permitted limits in conventional wines are 150mg / l for red wines and 200mg / l for white and rosé wines while in the organic limits are respectively 100-120mg / l for reds and 150-170mg / l for whites and rosés.

 

BIO WINE LABELS AND VEGAN DIET

But how to distinguish a bio wine from one that is not?

We need to pay attention to the label – says the experts – Organic wines, as well as all other certified organic products, carry the European logo on the label (the green flag with the European starlet leaf). Next to the European mark must be indicated the code of the control body and the actual origin (EU / non EU) of the ingredients that constitute it. Thus, when you read Italy (or Spain, France, etc …), it means that 100% of the ingredients have been grown on the national territory.

Then there are the voluntary ‘certifications’ which may provide for further restrictions. “The Icea standard, distinguished by the ‘Biolwine’ trademark, further limits the use of additives and technological adjuvants with respect to EU legislation” and “provides that the maximum sulfur dioxide content, expressed in milligrams per liter (mg / l), does not must exceed 50% of the amount admitted in the EU regulation 606/2009 “.

Organic products also have the merit of ‘inspiring’ virtuous behavior. Organic farming has always driven and encouraged an evolution of other productions towards more ecological and sustainable systems. Not only, at the dawn of the organic it was frequent to run into defective organic wines of poor quality, but today, in Calabria, we can count on cellars that guarantee a level of quality comparable and competitive with the best conventional wines.

At this moment, it is not the disciplinary of the biologicals limit but the capacity of the agronomist in the field, to ensure the quality of the grapes, and then of the winemaking in the cellar.

The bio wines also marry the vegan cause. Unlike in the past today among vegans there are those who also appreciate the consumption of wine, provided that in the production of the same have never been used substances of animal origin, which in wine must not even be declared on the label, as the jellies used for clarification, isinglass, albumin, lysozyme, etc …

In Calabria, now, in addition to “self-certified products from the same manufacturing companies”, the wineries can also count on a real certification of a third party Vegan. Like that of Icea, which provides for the elimination of any substance of animal origin in the processing of wine and all other food products intended for vegan consumers. In promoting vegan wines, obviously, any reference to combinations with meat, cheese and eggs should be avoided.

 

TARGET MARKETS

The high attention devoted to environmental interests, in the EU Community area, particularly in Germany, ensures higher growth rates for bio wine sales. Further, interest in organic wine,  is also showed by Denmark, Luxembourg, the Scandinavian countries, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands.

For non-European countries, United States and East Asian markets are in pole positions. Among the European countries, which are outside the European Union, the demand of the Swiss market seems to be very high. This means that the Calabrian organic wines seem to have all the requisites to be ready to satisfy the new needs of the consumer, specifically international ones.

This would allow Calabria to export on the various markets a quality organic wine production, from the United States to Canada, from Germany to Denmark, to name but a few; and this opportunity would favor the development of communication and promotion actions for the products of the Calabrian wine supply chain, aimed at international consumers.

A Greek passito wine: Greco di Bianco

24.1.2018

This magnificent wine comes from the zone of Bianco, a little town on the Ionian coast, in Calabria, in front of a sparkling sea with an intense blue color, but also from a larger area covering the villages of Bovalino, Africo and generally the Ionian coast, the southern part towards Reggio Calabria, even further south from Locri and Gerace.

Effectively, Greco di Bianco is the term that indicates the typical grape variety of the coastal strip of Reggio Calabria on the Ionian side in the municipality of Bianco (RC), and there the homonymous DOC wine is protected.

However, DOC protection allows production in the same province of Reggio di Calabria and in the neighboring municipalities.

The variety of Greco is also used in two other DOCs of southern Italy, namely Greco of Gravina, in Basilicata, and Greco di Tufo, in Campania.

 

HISTORY OF A GREEK WINE

The name of “Greco di Bianco” easily recalls the Greek origin of the vine. Greco di Bianco is considered the oldest wine in Italy together with “Moscato di Siracusa”.

The wine is obtained from the white Greek vine, poor in fruit and originating from Greece, from where it was imported around the VIII century a. C. Precisely, when the Greeks landed at the promontory Zefirio (today called Capo Bruzzano).

The antiquity of the wine is confirmed by a legend, according to which a force of 10,000 Locrians took sufficient strength and courage from copious draughts of the local wine to defeat an army of 130,000 men from Croton in 560 BC. Further, the myth talks of such wonderful nectar. The mythological tradition gives credit to divine as well as enological assistance, for Castor and Pollux were said to have been sent by Apollo to fight at the side of the Locrians.

In 1966 the Greco di Bianco reached a very low level of production, which is why any local agricultural cooperatives were founded in Bianco, with the aim of enhancing and standardizing its production. The success was reached in 1980, when Greco di Bianco received the DOC brand protection.

Greco di Bianco, created as a DOC title in 1980, is now one of very few Calabrian DOC white wines and outstanding dessert wines.

 

THE LAND OF THE WINE

The plant found in the land of Bianco any climatic conditions similar to those of origin. The vineyards in front of the sea capture at the most light and heat. The production begins with the drying phase of the grapes, when the wine absorbs minerals and fragrant substances.

The bunch of the Greco B. di Bianco vine is long, loose, and can reach a maximum length of 60 centimeters. The berries are small and round, very developed grape seeds and, therefore, with little pulp and very thin skin.

The most used breeding system is the bilateral horizontal spur cord. The shoots reach up to 7 meters in length and are adorned with lobate leaves, shiny on the upper page, typical of these vines. Another system of breeding, now practiced only on old vineyards, is the tree.

The vine has an average yield of fresh grapes of about 100 q / ha. Before being squeezed, the grapes are dried on reeds until a minimum reduction of 35% is recorded.

THE FEATURES

Greco di Bianco is a must of Mediterranean and Calabrian wine production. This wine, made from Greco grapes and produced in the seaside resort of Bianco in southeastern Calabria, is also known as Greco di Gerace, given that the latter is near. Nevertheless, Greco di Bianco is arguably the most interesting wine style produced in Calabria, southern Italy.

It is a copper-hued dessert wine, made from partially dried grapes, and stands out from Calabria’s other wines, most of which are dry, often over-alcoholic table wines with little to distinguish them.

Greco di Bianco is produced as a passito-style wine, meaning that the grapes are partially dried before they are pressed and fermented. This process concentrates the natural sugars, and increases the potential alcohol level of the must to 17% or more.

Therefore, Greco di Bianco is considered one of the rarest-of Italian dessert wines, with its unique amber color, coming from the high levels of phenolic development in the over-ripe grapes.

It is luscious, rich and velvety in texture; it exhibits an aromatic bouquet reminiscent of orange flowers, citrus fruit and underlying herbal notes that become more accentuated with age. Further, its straw-yellow color with amber reflections, has ethereal scent, flavor tending to liqueur, alcoholic smell, and characteristics of a soft, warm, harmonious and persistent taste.

The olfactory impact has sweet notes of apricot, orange blossom, honey and candied orange.

Conclusively, it is an excellent meditation wine, well suited to desserts with dried fruit, creams, jams, pastries, Sicilian cassata, fruit, biscuits and spicy hard cheeses.