Palizzi Rosso
In 1847 Edward Lear (an English landscape painter) kept a journal of drawings of the beautiful Calabrian landscape around Palizzi and wrote down his impressions. One of these was of the red wine, which still today is the pride of Calabria. Palizzi is a wine delicately fruity and spicy, with good tannic structure.
Appellation: Palizzi IGT
Type: Red, dry
Blend: 50% Calabrese Nero, 50% Nocera
Color: Deep ruby red.
Bouquet: Intense, mature red fruits, spices and hints of vanilla.
Taste: Full, structured, warm and with good persistence, slightly tannic with spicy notes.
Alcohol: 14%.
Serving Suggestion: Serve at a 18°C (64°F).
Pairing: An excellent accompaniment to typical local dishes like guastedde*, ragu’ with macaroni and pecorino, ricotta salata, spit roast, wild boar sausage and aged pecorino.
*Guastedda is derived from the ancient French-Norman guastel or wastel (Around 1130 CE this part of the Mediterranean was controlled by Normans) its dough is similar to focaccia, but it is nfigghiulata (filled full, like a pregnant woman).
Production Area: Pietrapennata in Palizzi†, Reggio Calabria (about 10 kilometers north of the Ioanian Sea).
Exposure: Southeast.
Training System: Spurred cordon.
Vine Density: 5,000-6,000 plants/hectare.
Soil: Medium consistency, tending to clayey.
†Palizzi is one of the Greek (Griko dialect) speaking villages of Bovesia one of the two Griko-speaking areas of southern Italy.
Harvest: Manual harvest, second or third week of October.
Vinification: Fermentation in temperature controlled steel tanks ( 28° C). with a 10-day long maceration.
Aging: 6 months in allier barriques, and then 2-months in bottle before release.
