Alezio, in Salento, boasts two centuries of wine production in one of the Italian areas most suited to rosé. This, in itself, would be enough to showcase the personality and level of Rosa del Golfo. The reputation of the winery, which takes its name from the beautiful Gulf of Gallipoli, is due to the generation currently active in the area, represented by Damiano and Pamela Calò, extraordinary wine communicators and ambassadors of Salento.
The soils of the Mazzi locality, just south of Alezio, the hinterland of Gallipoli, are calcareous, clayey and rich in red earth. This is where the winery has created the magic of a supreme rosé: Vigna Mazzì. Ancient Negroamaro vines in sapling, dated more than forty years, give what, to date, is undoubtedly one of the greatest Italian rosés.
The very fact that the family has decided to dedicate the best cru to rosé vinification clearly tells of the winery’s orientation towards enhancing the territory and its traditions. A significant choice, which is not at all obvious in Italy. The flower must is obtained from grapes with the so-called "a lacrima" maceration: very soft, from which comes a nectar with very low yields (no more than 30 litres per 100 kg of grapes) of a natural pinkish colour.
A painstaking job? Sure, but it's worth it, given the result. And given the resting time that awaits the wine in formation, so the wood comes into play. Firstly, but in a small part, in fermentation, and then, for ten months, in aging, for which oak, cherry and chestnut tonneaux are used.
The colour of Vigna Mazzì is a splendid intense and brilliant cherry pink, with coral and ruby reflections. The bouquet is multi-faceted, intense and complex: notes of sweet spice and jam softly yield to a smoky texture and fragrances of undergrowth, cherry, citrus fruit peel, rhubarb and even coffee. The taste, soft and elegant, does not disappoint. Of superior class, it has a persistence that many reds would envy, with echoes of toasted hazelnuts and mineral and mineral and toasted scents. It pairs well with grilled fish with strong flavours, velvety first courses, perhaps based on fine fish sauces, white meats and medium-aged hard cheeses.
