The Odoardi family has owned land in Calabria’s Cosenza and Catanzaro provinces for centuries. The 2 young brothers Gregorio and Giovan Battista decided to start making wine in the early nineties quickly putting on the map some of Italy’s lesser known grape varieties and denominations: Savuto DOC and Scavigna DOC.
Calabria was one of the regions chosen by the Romans for the planting of vines, but the winemaking tradition had since declined, making this region’s output of wine one of the smallest of Italy. Today, in spite of the efforts by wineries like Odoardi, Calabria remains the most underdeveloped and poor region of the peninsula, where the young generations are often forced to look for greener pastures elsewhere. From 70 hectares planted to vine, Odoardi produces around 300.000 bottles. The vineyards lay in the countryside crossed by the Savuto river and in hills facing the Tyrrhenian sea, which gives much needed ventilation to this scorched and often arid region.
The re-discovery of grapes such as Magliocco Canino, Greco Nero, Gaglioppo and Nerello Cappuccio has been an eye-opener for wine drinkers and Odoardi’s re-interpretation of such historic wines is genuine and innovative at once.