OLIMPIA

Olimpia is the Nesci estate's white wine — and it is, in the context of a portfolio otherwise dominated by reds of considerable force and character, a wine of particular delicacy and surprise. Made from the indigenous Pecorello grape in purity, it is straw yellow approaching transparent white in colour — a wine of luminous clarity that signals its character before the first sip is taken.

The Pecorello grape is genuinely rare. It is not a variety found in the mainstream Italian wine market or in the catalogues of most Calabrian producers; its cultivation has been maintained by estates of genuine commitment to indigenous variety preservation, and the Nesci family's biodynamic approach to their entire agricultural ecosystem is precisely the context in which such a grape thrives. Grown on the sea-facing hills of Palizzi, in the constant presence of the Ionian breeze and the bergamot-scented air of the estate, Pecorello develops an aromatic profile of delicate distinctiveness.

On the nose, Olimpia is elegant and vivacious simultaneously — a combination that is harder to achieve than it sounds, since elegance tends toward restraint and vivacity toward generosity, and the most successful wines find the balance between the two. The nose delivers genuine freshness, and the structure on the palate is good — a quality that suggests this wine will accompany food with more authority than its delicate appearance might initially suggest.

Olimpia is ideal alongside the lighter preparations of Calabrian and southern Italian cuisine: fresh fish, seafood antipasti, grilled vegetables, light pasta dishes. It is also a wine of particular pleasure as an aperitif — its freshness and elegance making it one of the most inviting opening wines in the UniqueWines portfolio.

Available through UniqueWines.