The nose is filled with chocolate, coffee, spices and mature red fruit. The palate has considerable power and grip while maintaining elegance. Calabrone will surely benefit from additional cellar time, at least 5 years.

Calabrone is an estate reserve released only when an excellent vintage is followed by a dry and mild September and October, when a precentage of the Refosco and all of the Schioppettino undergo appassimento (drying). As in the case of Amarone, the drying process not only intensifies the flavors of these distinctive grapes, but softens some of their natural tannic bite.

Technical notes

Calabrone Grappa is distilled from the skins of Bastianich Calabrone – Pignolo, Refosco passito, Cabernet Franc passito, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Food pairing

With dry extract levels near or greater to those of most Amarone, this is a big red wine for robust dishes.

Producer

The Bastianich winery, founded in 1997, strives to understand the history and culture of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and take it to a new level. Restaurateur Joseph Bastianich with his mother, the renowned chef Lidia Bastianich, bought a vineyard in Buttrio, a town in the Colli Orientali DOC. The family is very precise in their winemaking, controlling yields so that each individual vine produces one bottle of wine. They employ traditional manual methods in the vineyard and create wines that express the character of the land.