Roberto Ceraudo, the Calabrian prophet who has rediscovered the Pecorello vine

Roberto Ceraudo really loves his land. If the jewel called Dattilo is his creature, built in his own likeness, his sons Susy, Caterina and Giuseppe are his pearls. Roberto gave his best for this land that slopes slightly from the hills of Strongoli, creating a natural terrace towards the Ionian Sea. We are in Calabria, in the province of Crotone. In 1973, Roberto started his adventure among fields, sowing, harvesting, up and down on his tractor.

Once his hearth was the princes Campitello and Pignatello’s property, then passed to barons Giunti, including the 1600 house. A land covering 60 hectares of which 38 planted with olive grove and 20 to vineyard, very close to the Ionian Sea. Since ’92 the Ceraudo company is entirely organic, the first in Calabria.

Caterina Ceraudo, owner chef in Dattilo Restaurant, at Strongoli Marina

In 2003, an agri-tourism was opened, in the seventeenth century old village. But the flagship, the real strength of Ceraudo House, is Dattilo restaurant, the place where Caterina (the youngest Roberto’s daughter) cleverness grow up and more: she is rewarded with the Michelin star and she’s even the youngest southern italian awarded chef too. Her cuisine enhances the raw materials of the territory in mixed original recipes.

You are wondering: what does Dattilo mean? Dattilo was the name of a god from Greek mythology. The influence of the ancient Greek-Albanian traditions is clear throughout the Roberto Ceraudo life (originally from an ancient Albanian family). We tried, even, an organic extra virgin olive oil (from cultivar Tonda di Strongoli and Carolea), fruity and fragrant.

But now, however, I want to talk about a wine not to be missed: it is Grisara, obtained from grapes grown in hilly vineyards, between 60 and 100 meters above sea level.

My tasting note. Grisara 2016 Igt Val di Neto white – It was born from 100%Pecorello grapes, an autochthonous Calabrian vine that was in danger of missing and that today only few regional producers grow. In the glass, Grisara shows a straw yellow color. Nose with delicate citrus hues: cedar, lime, mandarin, bergamot, well blended with vegetal notes of cut grass, plum, pear, and spices such as thyme and cloves. Intense, progressive, vertical, enveloping taste: it is a beautiful white in which the citrus fruit comes back to the finish. Soft and fresh, well balanced, very long at the sip. In recent years I’ve liked this wine and not just to me.
Aging in steel.
Organic white wine.
Curiosity. What Pecorello means? Little sheep.