Tag: wine

Calabria, Land of Seafarers, Poets and Travelers

22.06.2022

MUSIC, ART, NOVELS

How can we forget Nicola Antonio Manfroce, who wrote music for Napoleon, or the legendary Rino Gaetano, from Crotone; or writers ranging from Leontius Pilatus in the 14th century to award-winning novelist Arbëreshë Carmine Abate.

OTHER VOCATIONS

Calabria had even popes, not just pop singers, and even philosophers … The list is too long to draw up.

For example, the journalist Walter Pedullà, president of RAI in Rome in the 90s, was born in Siderno.

Today Grand-Tour (?)

Calabria was also crossed by the Grand-Tour of eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century (of the noble scions of Europe, in search of experience and culture). Many illustrious foreign travelers have explored Calabria over the centuries: the Edward Lear museum in Gerace exhibits some of the drawings that the English artist and writer made during his visit in 1847.

Even in the 1900s, there were important travelers. In his book Old Calabria, Norman Douglas described how the scourge of malaria shaped the region socially and geographically in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Alexandre Dumas

Other well-known travelers are George Gissing, Alexandre Dumas, Stendhal and the Swiss journalist Joseph Viktor Widmann. Many others have told of their adventures – despite the judgment of a French writer in 1806 that “Europe ends in Naples … all the rest is Africa”.

VERY IMPORTANT PEOPLE BORN IN CALABRIA

They were born in Calabria

– the virologist Renato Dulbecco (born in Catanzaro, February 22, 1914 and died in La Jolla, February 19, 2012) who won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1975.

Land full of History

– the designer Gianni Versace, born in Reggio Calabria on 2 December 1946 and murdered in Miami on 15 July 1997.

– the singers Rino Gaetano (Crotone 1950 – Rome 1981, already mentioned), Mia Martini (1947-1995) and her younger sister Loredana Berté born in Bagnara Calabra.

Tommaso Campanella

Tommaso Campanella was very important in the history of philosophy and thought, born on 5 September 1568 in Stilo (in the province of Reggio Calabria). Dominican friar, philosopher and theologian, underwent five trials and tortures by the Inquisition for his ideas. He spent 27 years in prison, managed to escape to Paris in 1634 and died here 5 years later, in 1639. His most famous work is “the City of the Sun” of 1602. In 1612, at the time of the first trial against Galileo, he had wrote an “Apologia pro Galileo” courageously taking the parts of the great genius, considered since that time the true father of science.

Beauty, Sea, Travel and Culture in Calabria

A Rare Treasure of Calabria: Scavigna DOC Wine

16.5.2021

The core of Mediterranean Sea, Calabria, with its food and cuisine, contains a rare treasure, a wine of fruity and bold aromas with vanilla, red and dark fruit, and loads of sunshine.

This explosive and flamboyant taste with cedar, juicy cherries, and some herbs, full body, med-high tannins, is “Scavigna DOC wine”.

Approximately its blend is 20% Greco Bianco, 10% Malvasia, 5% Trebbiano, 15% Riesling, 20% Pinot Bianco, 30% Chardonnay.

Outside Calabria, only a small number of outlets in Asia and Europe have this wine. Recently only the 2014 and 2015 vintages have been available and now Scavigna Wine is a DOC of the Calabria wine region in southern Italy, which covers red, white and rose wines from the hills above Falerna Marina, on Calabria’s western coastline.

Scavigna wines are basically in  red (rosso), white (bianco) and rose (rosato) forms, without corresponding quality levels such as superiore or riserva.

Scavigna bianco (white) is made from a slightly less local collection of grapes, including the ubiquitous and international Chardonnay, and Trebbiano Toscano, one of Italy’s most widely planted white wine grape varieties. Greco Bianco and Malvasia Bianca hold the local end up, despite their proportions being limited to 20% and 10% respectively.

The red and rose wines are made from the classic Calabrian red variety Gaglioppo and its Sicilian counterpart Nerello Cappuccio, from the volcanic vineyards around Mount Etna.

The title of DOC was introduced in 1994, just after San Vito di Luzzi, from the Crati Valley further north in the hills. Its catchment area covers a relatively small patch of land previously untouched by a DOC, where the Savuto and Lamezia zones are separated by just a few miles of hills.

THE LAND OF THE WINE

The two municipalities where the vines lie are named Nocera Terinese and Falerna, and the latter has no relation to Falerna, home of Campania’s ancient Falernian wine. This is the Central Mediterranean coast of Calabria between the municipalities of Savuto and Lamezia Terme.

The vineyards occupy the high plateau between the two villages. Here is home to the majority of Scavigna’s wine production.

The soil is located in front of the Tyrrhenian Sea, here the large Sila Plateau is a vital factor in creating the viticulturally suited microclimate, because the volume of water surrounding the Calabrian peninsula helps to moderate the intense heat of south Italian.  The water also helps generate morning breezes as the land warms up, and afternoon breezes as it cools down later in the day.

This plateau, approximately 1.5 miles across, basks in the southern Italian sun, cooled slightly by the presence of the Tyrrhenian Sea below.

It is densely covered by vineyards, which run right to the top of its steep slopes. The northernmost vines perch at just over 2000ft (610m) and peer down into the valley below, where Nocera Terinese village is located.

The soil is calcareous clay and the training system is Guyot. The harvest takes place in late August and the wine is fermented in stainless steel tanks. The wine had flavors and aromas of white peaches with notes of herbs and grass.

THE GRAPES

The grape variety grown here is the Gaglioppo, much like in any other Calabrian vineyard facing the sea. Gaglioppo is a very ancient grapevine, probably of Greek origin, that thrives in dry climates. Its grapes ripen very slowly and are therefore high in sugar content. They yield a soft wine that is vinous and fruity, and high in alcohol content.

The soil can make also white, rose and red from all the typical local grape varieties. Reds and rose wines are usually a blend of Aglianico, Magliocco and Marcigliana while whites are produced with international varieties such as Traminer, Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco and Italian Riesling. These can be supplemented with local varieties and these are now used in increasing amounts.

In any case, the most important wine of the Scavigna D.O.C. appellation is a red made mostly with Gaglioppo and a small proportion of Nerello Cappuccio grapes. It is full-bodied, velvety, mellow, elegant and refined. It is best served with roast meat and savory Mediterranean dishes.

The rose’ variety is lighter and more supple. It is obtained from the same grapes that are used in making the Scavigna Rosso.

The white variety, on the other hand, is made with Trebbiano Toscano, Greco Bianco and Malvasia grapes. The D.O.C. regulation allows the vintners to add up to 30% of Chardonnay grapes in making Scavigna Bianco.