Six generations of the Nesci family have made wine in Palizzi, Calabria, since 1808 — in a biodynamic estate immersed in bergamot plantations and olive groves, on Ionian-facing hills of exceptional mineral richness. Their wines are a direct expression of what Calabria's indigenous varieties — Nero di Calabria, Nocera, Pecorello — are capable of when tended with two centuries of accumulated knowledge. Eight wines spanning red, white, and sparkling expressions. Bergamot as a recurring aromatic signature. Artistic labels. A range of rare authenticity that extends from the pure Nero di Calabria of Esperanto to the extraordinary sparkling Nocera rosés of Toto Corde and Magà. Two centuries of Calabrian winemaking. Available through UniqueWines.
Rediscovering the ancient viticultural heritage of Calabria, where Greek colonists planted the first vines over 2,500 years ago.
Schist and clay soils in the Aspromonte foothills, with maritime influence from both the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas.
Six generations. Two hundred years. One family. The Nesci story begins in the Sicily of the 1600s, migrates to Palizzi in Calabria, and extends today across the Reggio Calabria province with a portfolio of wines that speak — with uncommon directness — of the Mediterranean in its most elemental form.
The family's estate occupies nine hectares of hills facing the sea, where a constant Ionian breeze gives the grapes an aromatic intensity that connects tightly to the mineral-rich soil beneath. The terrain is divided into five vine sections: three of international varieties and two of indigenous ones, the latter being Nerello Calabrese and Nocera — red, robust grapes refined across generations of passionate work. In 2015 a new production plant was established within an older section of the land, representing a significant upgrade in productive capacity while preserving the ancient character of the estate.
The Nesci philosophy is one of biodynamic and organic production — not as a marketing claim but as a lived agricultural reality. Their vines are immersed in a bergamot plantation, an extensive olive grove, and a large holding of fruit trees. This is not monoculture: it is a complete agricultural ecosystem, and that complexity expresses itself directly in the wines. The bergamot in particular — Calabria's most distinctive aromatic plant — leaves its signature in the background of several wines in the range, a note so gentle and so specific to this territory that it functions almost as a geographical fingerprint.
The range is broad and deliberately expressive of different facets of the estate. FRÀ ANTONIO is a ruby red Merlot of vivacious, genuine character — simple in structure, intense and persistent in its tasting experience. CHAPEAUX, also from Merlot sourced from the organic hills of Palizzi, presents a deeper garnet red with great vivacity, its character aligned to the cooler months of autumn and winter.
ESPERANTO is the estate's champion of purity: 100% Nero di Calabria — an indigenous sibling of the Nerello Mascalese of Sicily — in an intense ruby red of consistent and particularly complex structure. The olfactory gamma covers red fruits and flowers, and the palate offers a warm, well-balanced body shaped with the aim of giving a background perception of bergamot. It is one of the most characterful expressions of a grape variety that deserves far wider recognition than it currently receives.
FRASANÈ is an extraordinary blend of indigenous Calabrian varieties including Nero di Calabria and Nocera — a wine of spectacular organoleptic qualities with a taste so profoundly Mediterranean that its minerality and freshness register almost as a geographical argument. MEET offers a different kind of statement: selected and refined Cabernet Sauvignon blended with minor percentages of Merlot and Syrah — wines of unique emotions arising from the Palizzi terroir's particular expression of these international varieties.
The white and sparkling expressions complete a portfolio of rare ambition. OLIMPIA is a precious white from Pecorello grapes in purity — straw yellow approaching transparent white, elegant and vivacious at once, with genuine freshness and good structure. TOTO CORDE is the Nocera red brought to a new dimension: a sparkling rosé with notes of oranges and lemons, a full and persistent tasting with roses' petals in the background and the signature presence of the Bergamot plantations experienced from nose to palate. MAGÀ takes the Nocera further still — a sparkling rosé with amber reflections described as having no peer in the world, with fumé fruity scents and flowers.
Nesci labels are, in addition, works of art in themselves. The family's commitment extends to every detail of presentation. Available through UniqueWines in carefully managed allocation.
