Rosa del Golfo Brut Rosé, a Salento bubbly

Last week Lecce hosted Roséxpo, an interesting and ample occasion to taste and compare wines that led up to an international trade fair dedicated to rosé wines. It was the brainchild of deGusto Salento, the Lecce association of Negroamaro Lecce producers headed by its untiring president Illaria Donateo.

Among the many wines offered by participating Salento producers, which DoctorWine will get into at a later date, was a surprising sparkling wine by one of the wineries that represent the history of rosé production in Puglia, Rosa del Golfo in Alezio. The estate dates back to the end of the 1930s but came to a turning point in the 1960s when the family’s new generation took over.

It was Mino Calò who shifted the focus away from high yields to produce bulk wine in order to bottle quality wine. And he did this to boost the importance of Salento, the ‘heel’ of the Italian ‘boot’, on the Italian winemaking scene. The first bottle of Rosa del Golfo was produced in 1964 with a label that has remained unchanged for over 50 years, with its sails that bring to mind the sea, and which has unmistakably been identified with a wine that has become both a tradition and a symbol.

When Mino Calò passed away in 1998, his son Damiano, then in his early 20s, left Albizzate, where the family lives and has a wine shop, to take charge of the family’s winemaking business in Salento. With the assistance and experience of Angelo Solci, who had partnered with his father in his wine project from the beginning, Damiano dedicated himself heart and soul to continue his father’s dream. The beauty of Salento, which his father sought to express to the world through his wines, are expressed today in the words of this gifted ambassador, even if he still maintains his distinct Varese accent.

When he came to the estate he knew very little about winemaking but the almost 20 years that followed have been very intense and saw the creation of a traditional Method Brut made from Negroamaro grapes. This was a challenge that took ten years to perfect but it was tackled with humility and today exemplifies the determination of a land where wine has been a part of man’s daily life for centuries. The important and consolidated results achieved also exemplify the capacity of a people to not only look forward but also to look behind in order to not forget what has been learned in the past.

Rosa del Golfo 
Owner : Damiano Calò
Via Garibaldi, 18
73011 Alezio (LE)
Tel. +39 0833 281045
calo@rosadelgolfo.com
www.rosadelgolfo.com
Facebook: Rosa-del-Golfo
Year of foundation : 1930
Total Bottles Produced : 300.000
Hectares of Vineyard : 40

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