Cirò, on the Ionian coast

Drive the Ionian coast road south of Crotone and the vineyards start before the town does: low bush vines on pale clay, olive trees at the margins, the sea flat and silver to your left. This is Cirò.

The grape here is Gaglioppo. It is pale in the glass, grown on chalky-clay hillsides close to the sea, and picked early enough to keep the wine fresh in a hot place.

Cirò Rosso Classico Superiore, the town’s flagship style, is the wine we hand to anyone who thinks southern Italian red means jammy and heavy. It is mid-weight, savory, faintly saline, and it wants lamb, aged pecorino, or a long Sunday lunch.

If you only ever try one Calabrian red, make it this one.