Saracena Moscato al governo

History and origin

Saracena is a town in the province of Cosenza, on the slopes of the Pollino, and its sweet wine has a long, well-documented history. As early as the sixteenth century barrels left the port of Scalea for the papal court: the moscato was served at the table of Pius IV and was much enjoyed by the Calabrian cardinal Guglielmo Sirleto, prefect of the Vatican Library.

Centuries later, foreign travellers remembered it. George Gissing, in his 1901 book on the Ionian Sea, describes it as a pleasant white wine worthy of ancient Sybaris; Norman Douglas, in Old Calabria (1915), speaks of Saracena as a prosperous town famous for centuries for its moscato, linking the grape to a legendary eastern origin.

The phrase «al governo» refers to the way the wine is made: the must is «governed», that is enriched with dried grapes, following a practice handed down by the town's families.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Moscato al governo di Saracena

Area and method of production

The wine comes from local grapes: guarnaccia, malvasia, duraca and moscatello. In early September the moscatello and duraca, picked ripe, are hung on shaded racks for about a month, so that drying concentrates their sugars and aromas. In the first week of October guarnaccia and malvasia are harvested; their must is boiled until it has reduced by about a third.

Once the concentrated must has cooled, the dried berries are sorted and pressed by hand, a task traditionally carried out by women, and then steeped in the must. The yeasts on the skins start a spontaneous fermentation, and a maceration of about six months gives the wine its aroma.

Saracena lies in the Pollino sub-zone of the Terre di Cosenza PDO, which also provides for a Moscato passito. The Slow Food Presidium brings together small producers of the town who are working towards a DOC of their own, because boiling the must, the heart of the tradition, is not allowed by the current specification.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Moscato al governo di Saracena · ARSAC Calabria — Terre di Cosenza DOP · Qualigeo (Fondazione Qualivita) — Terre di Cosenza DOP

How to recognise it

In the glass Moscato al governo is a bright amber colour. The nose is intense: resinous and aromatic notes combine with hints of dried figs, exotic fruit, almonds, dates and honey.

On the palate it stays elegant and fine, with a long finish and a well-judged balance between sweetness and acidity; the Pollino National Park also notes a pleasant slightly bitter touch at the end. It is therefore not a cloying wine, but a sweet one that keeps its freshness.

The harvest takes place between September and October, but the wine is available all year round. The Park suggests serving it chilled or at room temperature, to let its finest aromas come through.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Moscato al governo di Saracena · Parco Nazionale del Pollino — I sapori del Pollino

In the kitchen

Moscato di Saracena is a wine for the end of a meal and for slow sipping. The Pollino National Park, which notes that it has been a Slow Food Presidium since 2002, recommends it with the area's traditional sweets and with cheeses that are not blue-veined.

Home-made sweets are plentiful on the Pollino: biscuits and taralli, often in a figure-of-eight shape, enjoyed at the end of a meal with a glass of wine, or jams of wild berries and elderberry that go with aged, sharp cheeses. A sip of moscato, with its notes of dried figs and honey, matches these mountain flavours well.

To enjoy its aromas it is best served in small glasses, chilled in summer and at room temperature in the colder months, as the Park suggests.

Sources: Parco Nazionale del Pollino — I sapori del Pollino · Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Moscato al governo di Saracena

Where to taste it

The place to discover this wine is Saracena itself, home to the small producers brought together in the Slow Food Presidium. The town lies on the Calabrian side of the Pollino, within the National Park, which lists the moscato among the area's typical flavours together with Cerchiara bread, cheeses, honey and liqueurs made from wild fruit.

The vineyards of the Pollino sub-zone face the Ionian Sea, on the slopes of a massif that rises above two thousand metres and is home to the Bosnian pine. Saracena fits well into a trip through the Calabrian Pollino, together with Morano Calabro, Civita and Altomonte, combining mountain landscapes and wineries.

The wine is available all year, but the harvest between September and October and the weeks when the grapes are drying are the moments when the town's work is most visible.

Sources: Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Moscato al governo di Saracena · Parco Nazionale del Pollino — I sapori del Pollino · ARSAC Calabria — Terre di Cosenza DOP

Protection

• Slow Food Presidium — moscato-al-governo-di-saracena (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Moscato al governo di Saracena)

When

• Harvest: September–October (Fondazione Slow Food — Presidio Moscato al governo di Saracena)
• Autumn

Where

Calabria

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