Tenute Pacelli: Ancient lands, noble flavors

Clara, Carla and Laura. They are the women of Tenute Pacelli, a small and promising wine company north of Calabria. Mum and daughters have been managing it since 2010 with passion and dedication, each with a specific role. Clara, of Istrian origins, is the commercial soul; Carla and Laura, from Milan, take care of communication and relations with distribution. And then Francesco, the father – former lawyer -, thanks to whose business choices the company has grown exponentially. The Pacelli family today produces six types of wine, each of which represents a very specific soul of the company. Riesling, still (Barone Bianco) or sparkling wine with the champenoise method (Zoe), is the product that best describes the origins of Clara.

Barbera and Cabernet, the oldest vines, assembled for one of the two reserves (Pauciuri), reflect Carla’s desire not to renounce the company’s history and to pay homage to those who, first, the uncle Baron Gaetano La Costa , had invested in viticulture. And finally the Magliocco Dolce and Calabrese (autochthonous Nero d’Avola) – vinified separately and assembled in Temeso, aged in large French oak barrels and subsequently in Borgognotta, express Laura’s desire to focus on the territory trusting in its organoleptic potential and commercial.

The company, located among the lush hills north of Cosenza, below the Pollino Massif, was owned by the barons La Costa, noblemen of Calabrian origins from which the maternal family of Francesco Pacelli descended. The La Costa family since 1700 had possessions in the Municipality of Malvito, including the ancient castle of Norman origins, subsequently donated to the Municipality itself which then renovated it. Starting from the early twentieth century, the company, located in the Rose district a few kilometers from the town, had been chosen by the family as a rural residence and, only later, in the 70s, Baron Gaetano La Costa decided to plant the vineyard by choosing vines Italians – as a lover of Chianti and Barbera wines – such as Sangiovese, Cannaiolo, Malvasia which constitute the oldest part of the vineyard with its over 40 years.