A Calabria that never ceases to amaze. This was the feeling that filled the special evening held at Francesco Apreda’s restaurant Idylio, where wines, grape varieties and future visions became the heart of a collective story shared through the voice of Gennaro Convertini, one of the most passionate interpreters of contemporary Calabrian viticulture.
Calabria, a land of endless biodiversity
“Every time I talk about Calabria, there’s always something new to tell.” Gennaro says it with pride, almost with the awareness of someone who guards a heritage still partly unexplored. An ampelographic biodiversity that is not only an element of identity, but a true genetic treasure: a “bank” that could represent the future of Italian viticulture. Ongoing studies, the recovery of ancient varieties and a growing focus on native grapes are opening prospects that, just a few years ago, might have seemed unimaginable.
Mantonico: the “red disguised as white”
Among the discoveries that intrigue and captivate, Mantonico is certainly one of the most emblematic. A historic variety of the Locride area, traditionally vinified as a passito, it is now gaining attention in its dry version as well, thanks to its remarkable structure and natural acidity. “We call it the red disguised as white,” Gennaro explains, highlighting the expressive force and personality this grape can bring to modern wines. Its ancient DNA — perhaps among the first vines brought from Greece to Italy — adds yet another layer of fascination.
Magna Grecia Metodo Classico: Italy’s fifth sparkling frontier
And when the conversation turns to innovation, it cannot avoid the world of sparkling wine. Since 2013, Gennaro has been developing the Magna Grecia Metodo Classico project, a visionary idea aimed at defining a new Italian sparkling wine macro-area, alongside the four major pre-Alpine districts. A category that gathers Southern Italian sparkling wines made exclusively from native varieties: an approach that is cultural, technical and deeply identity-driven, and one that is helping to redraw the map of Italian traditional-method sparkling wines.
The emotion of a 1988 Cirò
The Idylio evening also delivered a rare moment: the tasting of a 1988 Cirò brought by one of the guests. A surprisingly intact and elegant wine, far from the usual expectations regarding the longevity of Gaglioppo from those years. “It is probably a wine made before the major stylistic evolution that later shaped the region,” Gennaro explains. A precious example of how tradition and time can trace unexpected trajectories.
The future: uniqueness, small producers and great whites
Looking ahead, Calabria seems determined to accelerate — but without losing itself. The future lies in the ability to enhance diversity rather than conform to standardized models. Small producers have understood this well, bringing to the market wines that are authentic, territorial and often surprising. Among the brightest promises, Gennaro points to white wines: a rediscovery that Calabria is beginning to express with depth and precision, as shown by the 2021 Greco Bianco tasted during the evening.
A Calabria that is changing, studying, taking risks and growing. If this evening at Idylio was a taste of the future, then the journey has only just begun.
