Winemaker Notes
Ruby red in color with intense aromas of cherry and spices with more delicate scents of violet, pomegranate and ripe plum. On the palate it shows a pleasant and elegant personality, with a good structure, perfectly balanced between freshness and smoothness.
Professional Ratings
-
Vinous
Sweet smoke gives way to lavender, violet pastille and crushed blackberries as the 2023 Gaglioppo opens in the glass. This is juicy and round with red and blue fruits and fresh acidity. The finale is long, mouthwatering and gently tannic, contrasting primary concentration with minty herbs.
Gaglioppo likes warm and dry climates and elevation. Some of the better examples of Gaglioppo grow in Ciro, Calabria where high altitude protects the berries from the intense hot climate of the plains. It makes a dry, red wine expressive of wild berry, black plum, earth and violets. Somm Secret—If you like the reds of Mt. Etna in Sicily, you will like Gaglioppo. It is in fact a sibling of Mt. Etna’s Nerello Mascalese grape.
As the toe of Italy’s boot and closer in proximity to Sicily than any other mainland Italian region, Calabria holds much much in common with the island by way of climate, landscape and agriculture. Calabria’s principal red grape, Gaglioppo, is also a close relative of Sicily’s famous Nerello Mascalese.
Cirò, Calabria’s most valuable appellation, covers gently sloped hills on the Ionian Sea coast. Its wines are based on the indigenous red, Gaglioppo, and can be made as single varietal wines or blended with Cabernet or Merlot. Also of interest from Calabria is the red Maglioppo, likely a relative of Sangiovese. Whites here are made of Greco.