The crowd from Calabria

Calabria is over there, at the bottom. We hear little of this region, perhaps because it very often moves on tiptoe. Within the Giornata mondiale delle cucine regionali italiane nel Segno dell'Expo (the international day of Italian cuisine within the World Fair) it took two people such as Raffaele D'Angelo, president of the Calabresi di Parma association, with the aid of Teresa Balzano, Calabrian blogger adopted by Milan, to organise an interesting tasting of the wines from this land (whose name signifies “I make the good rise”, from the Greek Kalon-Brion).

Italian viticulture in fact began in Calabria, imported, as it was, from Greek settlers who landed on what is today Punta Alice. Even though numbers are not on its side – the region represents only 1% of the total Italian production of Doc wines – we did find some interesting numbers. The tasting was guided by Gaetano Palombella, sommelier Ais from Reggio Emilia - 100% Calabrian. Of the 9 wines tasted, our interest was captured entirely by the area in which the history of wine began, in the province of Crotone - on 4 wines produced by 4 different farms.

As in wine tastings, let’s start from white wines, with Molarella 2012, produced with pecorello grapes, an indigenous grape variety recently rediscovered, by Pizzuta del Principe (Contrada Pizzuta, Strongoli, +38.0962.88252 Cel. 348.2260328). An intense straw yellow, it is a little closed on the nose but has a round acidity and an interesting grapefruit note. Continuing with rosé wines, Grayasusi Etichetta Argento 2012 by Ceraudo (Contrada Dattilo, Strongoli, +39.0962.865613) is a rosé wine with an important structure, a splendid bouquet of raspberries and roses and a hint of vanilla and a delicate smokiness on the palate.

The third wine is made with another indigenous variety, namely nerello calabrese, produced by Senatore Vini (in San Lorenzo - Cirò Marina, +39.0962.32350, +39.334.6603740) in a version that reminds one of capers preserved in salt, while on the palate, together with capers, one can notice some mirth and a touch of leather. It has strong tannins but it is also easily drinkable. The last wine is Tuccio, a Cirò Riserva produced by Salvatore Caparra (in Madonna di Mare, Cirò Marina, +39.0962.36579). When we swirled the glass, our nose discovered a splendid pair formed by cherry and cocoa beans. There was a hint of bitterness between them, but we took it as a good sign. On the palate, this Riserva confirmed to be a structured wine, though not monumental: it wasn’t heavy at all.

Together with these wines, it would be a pity not to eat anything. A double pity would be not to pair these with the dishes that are created in Calabria itself. The Ceraudo farm also owns Dattilo, a restaurant that is today managed by young Caterina Ceraudo, a place famous for having reinterpreted some ancient Calabrian recipes in a creative way. The second stop would be at Ercole’s (viale Gramsci 122, Crotone, +39.0962.901425) on Crotone’s seafront, tasting a typical traditional dish, namely Covatelli con le scrine, a sort of cavatelli pasta seasoned with a peculiar type of seaweed from the Ionian sea.