Time to reflect on our 2017 trip to Southern Italy: the many highlights, new friends/old friends and learning experiences; this Part One post features reflections from Calabria.
Our first trip to Calabria – we loved our four days in Calabria from the three olive oil producers to the five wineries and the agriturismo, we were welcomed and smothered with Southern hospitality.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil First, several takeaways from the olive
oil producers: to produce extra virgin olive oil pick only top quality olives from the trees (no rotten olives that may have fallen to the ground before harvest) and pressed (or crushed) within 24 hours of harvest. Never blend olive oil that is not extra virgin oil or vegetable oil to “stretch” the extra virgin olive oil. Not only will the taste of the tampered extra virgin olive be compromised, but also the health-relevant chemicals, “phytochemicals”, that trigger cancer cell death will be eliminated. Be wary of “extra virgin olive oil” that claims that it is “Made in Italy”. Study the label and determine if the olives used to produce the extra virgin olive oil were cultivated in Italy or in another country. Many times these misleading labels prominently display a flag of Italy.
Extra virgin olive oil not made exclusively from olives cultivated in Italy, is not necessarily
inferior. Excellent extra virgin olive oil is made from producers in Greece, Spain, California, etc. But when olive oil “juice” is transported from other countries to Italy to be assembled into a product called extra virgin olive oil, there are too many points along the way for the olives and the extracted “juice” to be tampered with. As a result I only purchase extra virgin oil from producers who I have met at their production site. Granted this approach may be more expensive, but I am satisfied because I know that I am consuming authentic extra virgin olive oil.
In Feroleto Antico, CZ we met Diego Fazio, who is a cousin of the Maruca family from East Longmeadow, MA. The Fazio family produces organic extra virgin oil with mostly the carolea olive (90%) and less of the nicastrese olive (10%). The Calabrian cousins send the extra virgin olive oil through their cousins to individuals in the USA and Canada who have “adopted a tree” in one of the olive groves. The enterprise is called Tre Olive. We saw several trees that have been “adopted” by my family members and friends; a great product and excellent marketing concept.
In Lauropoli Cassano allo Jonio, CS we met cousins Francesco and Giovanna Brogna, owners of a large extra virgin olive oil producer; Gabro. In addition to organic olives from their own groves, Gabro purchases organically cultivated olives from about 100 farmers for production of the company’s organic extra virgin olive oil. The company uses six different olives: carolea, grossa di cassano, lecchino, dolce di rossano, frontoia and tondino. Gabro produces 1.9 million liters of extra virgin oil, but only 10% is sold under its label. Most of its extra virgin olive oil is sold under private labels of international food companies. This is a common practice in the marketing and sale of extra virgin olive oil; a different process than the marketing and sale of wines.
Gabro, certified organic in 1989 and the largest olive producing mill in Calabria, is a pioneer in the large-scale organic production of extra virgin olive oil. The family’s rich tradition of production of extra virgin olive oil is documented in a museum that Gabro founded at its production center. The museum serves as a resource for local schools and others interested in the history of extra virgin olive oil production.
Roberto Ceraudo makes both olive oil and wine at his 100 hectare farm in Strongoli, CR (80% olive groves and 20% vineyards); which is adjacent to the Ciro’ Marina wine region. Roberto’s passion for the elimination of chemicals and pesticides from wine and
olive production was in response to an accident. About thirty years ago Roberto nearly died from a massive backfire of pesticides emitted from a pump. The dangerous chemicals covered Roberto from head to toe. He continued working instead of immediately cleansing himself. The poison almost killed him. After surviving six days in intensive care, Roberto made a commitment to convert his vineyards and olive groves to 100% organic; there are no chemical interventions. Today Roberto wants to convert his farm to an organic/natural state that existed 100 years ago; which means no machinery in the vineyard. His belief is that machinery serves as a deterrent for beneficial insects, plants and animals. His project is on a fifteen year plan; he is about halfway to completion. Roberto produces his extra virgin olive oil with the tondo di Strongoli olive. He produces a wide array of white and red wines; about 80,000 bottles per annum. I prefer his gaglioppo based wines, which are fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged in small oak barrels. Roberto commented “(a) good grape in the vineyard can be destroyed in the cellar.” His philosophy is followed by the winemakers that we visited in Ciro’ Marina.
Wine
The four wineries we visited in Ciro’ Marina, CR are equally committed to the production of wine in an organic/natural manner. There is much enthusiasm and camaraderie among small innovative producers which follow different wine-making methods, but all with the same goal of making an excellent organic/natural wine with the gaglioppo grape.
Du Cropio has an annual production of 66,000 bottles. The owner, Guiseppe Ippolito, took us on a tour of his vineyards (photo at top is me at Guiseppe’s vineyard) before hosting a lunch in which he paired his wines with local Calabrian cuisune. See below for more details on the lunch; in short it was fantastic and an example of “Southern Hospitality”. Du Cropio is certified organic; and for parts of his vineyards, Guiseppe uses a horse and plow, no machinery. The soil is clay and limestone and the vineyards are steeply sloped on the side of hills. He follows a “dry” cultivation; he does not provide water to the vines. This summer was exceptionally dry; more than three months without rain. He trains his vines so that two come together to “compete” for water and nutrients. The yield for Guiseppe (and all the other Ciro’ Marina wineries we visited) was less than previous years, but the grapes appear to be of a high quality. The wine is fermented in stainless steel and aged in large oak “botte”. Guiseppe comes from a family with a long time involvement with winemaking; Du Cropio in dialect means “doctor of agronomy”; and his father wrote the first DOC in the South.
Cataldo Calabretta has an annual production of 30,000 bottles. Cataldo’s family has owned the vineyards for four generations and has been bottling wine since the early 1970s. Cataldo studied in Milano and worked throughout Italy at vineyards. He returned home 2008 and assumed leadership of the family cantina. For ethical reasons he converted the viticulture to organic. He renovated 400 year old cement tanks and returned them to their original purpose; the fermenting and aging of wine. There is spontaneous fermentation in concrete vats with indigenous yeasts; no added yeasts and filtration is reduced. Cataldo gave us a tour of his vineyard and a tasting of his wines. He, as his other organic producing Ciro’ Marina friends, emphasized that wine is made in the vineyards with the natural method of growing grapes; and as noted above by Roberto Ceraudo wine can be destroyed in the cellar (by artificial interventions). Today, in less than ten years, Cataldo Calabretta is certified organic and a member of the Italian Federation of Independent Winegrowers. Recently, he was one of four Southern Italian wineries that presented at Raw Wine’s annual New York City trade show. Raw Wine promotes fine natural, organic or biodynamic wines produced with low interventions in the cellar.
Sergio Arcuri has an annual production 20,000 bottles. Sergio hosted a tasting at his small cantina and his brother Francesco gave a tour of the vineyard. Sergio’s and Francesco’s great-grandfather started working the land for the production of wine and olive oil over 120 years ago. Sergio’s and Francesco’s father purchased additional land. In the early 1970s their father opened a small winery in which he made “cask wine” for locals. In 2009 Sergio and Francesco modernized the cellar and converted the winery to bottling; today the winery is certified organic. They use cement tanks for fermentation with native yeasts. The wine is aged in stainless steel and the wine returns to cement tanks for a short period of time before bottling. Because the winery has two levels, the wine flows by gravity from cement tanks to stainless steel tanks (no pumping of the wine), limiting the stress on the wine. Sergio did not have formal training on wine making, per Sergio “(w)ine is more made from experience than study”. Sergio Arcuri, also, is a member of the Italian Federation of Independent Winegrowers.
A Vita has an annual production of 15,000 bottles. Similar to the other Ciro’ Marina wineries featured, Francesco Maria de Franco, assumed leadership of the family vineyard at a young age. Francesco. as did Cataldo Calabretta, went to college before becoming a wine maker. After 11 years as an architect Francesco changed careers. He started production of A Vita wines in 2008 which were first available commercially in 2010. In dialect, A Vita means “The Vine”. We were given a tour of the vineyards and a tasting by Francesco and his wife Laura. During the tour Francesco demonstrated the “old school” grafting technique which is used only in a few small areas of Sicily and Puglia. The “old school” is more natural; Francesco does not buy new vines, rather he starts his vines from his own stock which is a more time-consuming process. As a certified organic winery, Francesco does not use any chemicals. His wines are produced by natural fermentation with local yeast. Francesco ages his Rose and Ciro’ DOC wines in stainless steel; the DOC Riserva ages in large 2000 liter barrels. A Vita is a leader in natural wine making and is a member of the Italian Federation of Independent Wine Growers.
I was taken back by the elegance of the wine produced with the gaglioppo grape. This coupled with the wine makers attention to detail to insure that grapes are cultivated free of chemicals and wine is made free of artificial additives makes me strongly recommend people to search for these wines. All are imported to the USA; Du Cropio is available in Massachusetts. I hope Calabretta, A Vita and Arcuri will be soon available in Massachusetts as well. I can assure you that my cellar will soon be populated with gaglioppo wines from Du Cropio, Cataldo Calabretta, A Vita, Sergio Arcuri (and Ceraudo). Their organically/naturally produced gaglioppo based wines are about to explode on the international wine scene.
Food
Calabrian food is known to feature more spice than other regions in Italy. We were not disappointed. Guiseppe Ippolito of Du Cropio treated us to a thirteen course lunch of food
typical of the Ciro’ Marina area (spicy!) paired with his wines. It was fabulous; some of the dishes included salted sardines with spicy red pepper, bacala, red pepper with anchovy, egg-plant with cheese and pecorino cheese with spicy dried sausage. We stayed at Dattilo agriturismo (operated by the Ceraudo family) and enjoyed two dinners at Dattilo’s Michelin rated restaurant. One of the dinners featured 11 courses; some of the dishes included red millut fish, turbot, pasta with almonds and salmon, and lamb. At our dinners at both Ciro’ Marina and Strongoli there were many fish dishes, which makes sense due to the communities proximity to the Ionian Sea.
Due to our tight schedule we were unable to spend time at the Ciro’ Marina shoreline along the Ionian Sea. From vineyard views, the Ionian Sea was inviting. On the next trip to Ciro’ Marina (and be assured there will be another trip!) we will make sure we spend time exploring the area including the shoreline. Note in the photo of me at top of post the Ionian Sea is in the background.
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