This week’s variety hails from Calabria, specifically from the provinces of Cosenza and Catanzaro, located on the Tyrrhenian Sea .

A hearty grape that can be quite productive, it is used both in mono varietal wines and as a coloring agent in blended wines. It can be found in the Lamezia DOC denominated wines. The one wine I found made 100% with this grape is called Santa Venere and is from Riccardo Cotarella, famed enologist and winemaker. It’s called Scassabarile and is a rosato. Another winery I know pretty well used the variety in a rosato blend for their Savigna DOC, Cantine Odoardi. They spell the variety with a “c” rather than an “s” and blend it with Aglianico 60% and Magliocco Canino 20% to make their Scavigna rosato. They are the couple in the photo below. Lovely people and great wines.