In San Marco Argentano, a municipality at 600 m above sea level but a few steps from the Tyrrhenian Sea, Antonello Canonico cultivates 3 hectares of vineyards, recovered in a sparsely populated region between the imposing presence of the mountains. They are often abandoned vineyards, the legacy of a region that experienced a massive emigration in the early 1900s.
The most important aspect of Antonello’s commitment is the recovery of a social bond with the elderly in the area, maintaining their knowledge and tradition and the recovery of the ancient varietals of this region. Thus in the vineyards we find Mantonico, Magliocco, Zibibbo, Greco Nero or Guardavalle, blends of which we could read in the texts dating back to the splendors of Magna Graecia.
Here the idea of a hot, arid Calabria, with alcoholic and demanding wines is very far away. This corner of land gives a breezy climate, with significant temperature variations, a clayey soil and a vegetation that alternates between olive trees, orchards, and woods. The wines that Antonello makes are light, delicate, direct.
Very short macerations, no intervention in the vineyard or cellar, and as much identity and soul as this land, so ancient and at the same time completely ready to be rediscovered.
...
