What is Cirò
10/29/14 -
The more we explore southern Italy and its historic regions, the more we find to be excited about. This week’s obsession: Cirò! This is Calabria’s crown jewel of wine production and perhaps the only wine from Calabria found easily in the United States; we just had a customer stop by to source a bottle from the Melissa zone in Calabria; we had to wish them good luck. The Denominazione for Cirò was founded in 1969 and covers the rocky hills and mountains that extend above the town of Cirò Marina. This rugged country is still influenced by peasant revolts against corrupt landlords which occurred in the 1940s and which caused a mass exodus that sent many Calabrians to the United States. It’s been proposed that Cirò’s recognition, although limited, in America stems from second and third generation Italian-Americans eager to try the wine of their family’s past, and able to easily recall Cirò’s musical name.
Cirò, is made from one of our favorite, distinctive wine grapes, Gaglioppo. Considered an ancient variety that perhaps has origins in Greece (it’s rumored to be related to the Krimisia variety that was awarded to winners of the original Olympic Games) the wines made from Gagliopo have a distinctive brick-red hue even in their youth, not unlike classically produced Nebbiolo. Also similar to wines from the Langhe, Cirò has both fierce tannin and acidity which can be a bit intense without food, but these qualities create a wine that has the ability to age gracefully in the short to medium term, and colleagues recently sampled wines from 1968 and found them to be delicious surprises. As the autumnal color of the wine indicates, Gaglioppo is not fruity, but rather earthy and cerebral with notes of salt, balsamic and a bit of refreshingly tart raspberry fruit.
Unfortunately, Cirò producers have succumbed to the worst of modern trends in wine making: international varieties, aging in toasty, oak barrels and striving for ripe fruit character over mineral and earth flavors, so we’re always on the hunt for producers making wines in a classic style. On a recent trip to Italy we were introduced to the stunning wines of Cataldo Calabretta, a fourth generation grape-growing operation in the center of Cirò’s classical region that has just shifted in the last decade to wine production as well. Viticulture is certified organic, use of SO2 is kept to a minimum and native fermentation and aging are all done in cement and steel to preserve the grapes’ unique aromas. The Cirò is certainly the most famous of the wines that Calabretta produces, but the house makes two other equally distinctive wines: a Rosato (that is denied the title “Cirò Rosato” because it is made of Alicante Bouschet, not Gagliopo) and a stellar white wine made Ansonica – try them all for a tour of Cirò! John Rankin
