2019 Scala Ciro Bianco DOC Vino

Calabria’s best known wine region is Cirò, extending from the Ionian coast to the eastern foothills of La Sila with the classico zone centred around Cirò and Cirò Marina in the province of Crotone. Here, Gaglioppo is king. One of Italy’s oldest varieties, recent DNA studies have found that Gaglioppo is a natural crossing of Sangiovese and Mantonico. 

100% Gaglioppo, a medium-sized, thick-skinned grape indigenous to Southern Italy and best known for the production of Ciro DOC.  It’s packaging hails from the 1970s in striking red, white and black coupled with a unique typeface.

In the Scala family since 1949, the domaine is now run by Luigi Scala, who leads the production of Cirò wines following family traditions. From the growing of the grapes to the refinement and aging of the wines, he favors quality over quantity and aims to produce a distinguished Calabrian wine. The winery is truly a family business as Francisco Scala oversees the business side of the winery. The vineyard is 18 hectares for an overall production of 100,000 bottles.

Tasting note:  Pale gold in colour, this medium bodied Greco has lots of stone fruit aromas and flavours including peach and apricot, honey and jasmine. A rounded, complex wine from an under appreciated region.

Growing System: Espailer

Soil Composition: Clay and Sandy soil

Production: The grapes were manually harvested around mid to late September.They were destemmed, softly pressed, and fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks – 16° to 18° C (61 to 64F) in order to preserve the aromas.

Ageing:  After the fermentation, the wine was racked and left in tanks for 4 months.

Alcohol (%): 12%