A day in Palizzi, City of Wine

For lovers of fine wine, we recommend a trip to Palizzi, one of Calabria's Wine Cities on the Costa dei Gelsomini, in the province of Reggio Calabria. What is so special about Palizzi wine? All the aroma and traditions of the territory it comes from!

The marina of Palizzi, which is separate from the village of Palizzi Superiore, is surrounded by vineyards that now produce one of Calabria's finest wines: Palizzi IGT, a blend of delicious native grapes.

But it's not just about Palizzi wine! This stretch of coastline offers the magic of the legendary White Badlands (or Palizzi Badlands), a natural spectacle to be discovered at a leisurely pace.

Those who love good wine from the Ionian coast of Reggio Calabria should definitely take a tasting trip to Palizzi, one of the Wine Cities, and sample the prized Palizzi IGT wine. A full-bodied wine, despite the delicate sea breeze that caresses the vineyards, capable of restoring the identity of a people in the glass: the Greek roots of the community of Palizzi, which still preserves the ancient echo of the language that came from the East. Palizzi wine "speaks" the Greek of Calabria, recounting aromas and flavours that come from afar but have found, literally, fertile ground here! The soil is clayey, as suggested by the ravines that form a hinge between the sea and the vineyards, at an altitude of about 250 m.

These characteristics make Palizzi wine one of the richest reds in Calabrian viticulture. The grapes are harvested in the second ten days of September; they are pressed and left to ferment in steel tanks for 48/60 hours; then they are pressed and the must is transferred to temperature-controlled steel tanks, where it remains until the first racking in November. This is followed by two more rackings and, finally, after about two months in chestnut barrels, the wine is bottled and left to age for another three months before sale.

The result is Palizzi wine: full-bodied, with an alcohol content of 14%, perfect with roasts, game, cold cuts and cheeses typical of Calabrian platters and more structured traditional dishes, alongside which it releases a vinous and enveloping bouquet.

After tasting a glass of Palizzi wine, perhaps directly at the winery, we take a tour of the historic centre of Palizzi Superiore, climbing the road that leads to the panoramic village carved into the rock. Palizzi Superiore stands around the fortress of the ancient Castle of Palizzi (13th century), an imposing fortified building, of which today only the remains of the surrounding walls with mighty bastions and embrasures remain, in addition to the two towers (cylindrical and angular).

What to see in Palizzi, around the small cluster of houses? Just outside the village, the hamlet of Pietrapennata awaits us, with the ancient Monastery of Alica and the remains of the Monastery of Sant'Ippolito, which can be reached by a trek that follows in the footsteps of the Grand Tour chronicler Edward Lear, to whom the Englishman's Path is dedicated, one of the most fascinating literary itineraries in Calabria.

You cannot leave this beautiful location without seeing the sea of Palizzi and the evocative Badlands of Palizzi up close! The so-called White Badlands are a Site of Community Importance (SCI) of delicate beauty: a lunar landscape, formed by layers of marly limestone and light-coloured clay, with blue hues, surrounded by typical dune and Mediterranean vegetation. The Badlands of Palizzi slope down towards the bay and the sea of Palizzi, perfect for those who love diving, surfing and kitesurfing, as well as for admiring a true miracle of nature that, in these parts, is renewed every year: the hatching of Caretta Caretta turtles, which rewards these beaches with the Legambiente Sails.