Calabrian message lags behind rest of Italy

Calabria’s biggest producer has warned that the region is in danger of being left behind by the rest of Italy if it does not begin to market itself seriously.

Speaking to the drinks business at Vinitaly this week, Raffaele Librandi of Librandi said that, “consumers do not know about Calabria” but added that as a region it contained enough grape varieties, styles, consistency and value to be of huge interest.

“Look at the rest of Italy, even Sicily, they began marketing years and years ago. We did not.”

Describing Italy’s toe as a, “greenhouse for the ancient Greeks”, he pointed to the 154 varieties that were indigenous to Calabria describing them as the region’s, “main selling point”.

Just as Cosenza is seeking to develop its Magliocco, Librandi added that currently the company is experimenting with clonal selections of Calabria’s main red grape Gaglioppo.

Furthermore, he thought that Calabria had a major selling point in its rosés, made from Magliocco, Gaglioppo, Greco Nero and others, which are not only one of the more traditional styles from southern Italy but good food matching wines as well.

With a production of around two million bottles a year, Librandi is the biggest producer in Calabria but the next biggest still produces under one million.

Librandi doesn’t see this as a problem however. “I think there is a huge possibility for Calabria to grow,” he said.

“It hasn’t even started yet.”