\"The relationship between Calabria and the vine has its roots in a much more ancient past than is commonly believed.
\nIt did not in fact begin with the arrival of the Greeks, but had already developed in protohistoric times thanks to Italic populations such as the Oenotrians, who cultivated the vine throughout this territory.
\nIt is precisely from these populations that the name \u201cOenotria\u201d derives, attributed by the Greeks to these lands, bearing witness to an already established agricultural and viticultural vocation, which enabled Calabria to establish itself as one of the principal centres of vine domestication in the ancient Mediterranean.
\nWithin this context, Scilla occupies a leading role.\nIts geographical position, at the heart of the trade routes of the Strait of Messina, and the characteristics of its territory made it, over the centuries, a place particularly renowned for the production of grapes and wine. The oldest documentary evidence relating to the presence of vineyards in Scilla dates back to the twelfth cen-tury: a diploma written in Greek records the sale, by Niceta son of Peristeri, of a piece of land located in the district of Pac\u00ec to the Basilian monks of the Monastery of San Pancrazio, within whose boundaries vineyards were already present, a sign of an agricultural practice that was already rooted and organised.
\nThe spread of the vine in these territories certainly predates the Byzantine age, but it was precisely with the agricultural organisation introduced by the monks that a significant development of cultivation took place. The use of the land was organised functionally: along the coastal belt vineyards, citrus groves and mulberry trees predominated, while the hilly areas were occupied by chestnut woods, essential for the production of timber used for barrels, stakes and tools; in the mountain areas, on the other hand, grazing and the trade in snow prevailed.
\nTerraced cultivation represents one of the most distinctive landscape features of this part of Calabria. In a territory marked by steep slopes and complex morphology, the inhabitants of Scilla, driven by necessity, pro-gressively shaped the landscape to make it productive, giving rise to the system of terraces.
\nThese constructions, once known locally as \u201crasole\u201d, are built through an articulated system of dry-stone walls, called in the local dialect \u201carmac\u00ece\u201d (from the Greek \u201c\u00e1p\u03bcaxia\u201d, heap of stones), and terraces carved into the steep rocky cliffs overlooking the sea.\nThese are works built over the centuries to make cultivable surfaces that would otherwise be unproductive and difficult to access, and which have also played a fundamental role in containing hydrogeological instability.
\nSince 2018, the art of dry-stone walling has been recognised as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage and to-day remains entrusted to the memory, hands and expertise of a few local craftsmen, custodians of an ancient knowledge.
\nIt is precisely on this rugged territory, shaped by human labour, that the wines of Scilla are born, a direct expression of a landscape built over centuries.\nHistorical sources in fact confirm the quality and fame of the wines produced in Scilla already in the early mo-dern age. One of the oldest testimonies mentioning a \u201cMalvasia\u201d in Southern Italy dates back to 1571, when Barrio wrote \u201cIn the countryside of Scilla an excellent wine is produced, called Melvasio, which is the same as that produced in Crete.\u201d\nA statement that clearly highlights Scilla\u2019s direct connection with the great wine-making traditions of the ea-stern Mediterranean.
\nA few decades later, in 1596, the prelate Girolamo Marafioti, in his Croniche et antichit\u00e0 di Calabria, also provided valuable information on the viticultural traditions of Scilla, offering a list of the varieties cultivated at the time:<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Scilla there is an abundance of different grapes, such as moscatella, greco, insolia, vernaccia,\nmalvasia, from which an excellent wine is made, in no way inferior to the malvasia of Candia, and others abundant\nboth for wine and for eating, so that much profit is gained from the sale of grapes in the aforementioned\ncastle.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
This description conveys a vivid image of a community in which viticulture represented an essential component\nof the local economy, alongside fishing, maritime trade and silk production.\nAs Cherubini, the great scholar of rural history, wrote, \u201cthe fisherman in the Middle Ages, almost everywhere,\nis a man with one foot on the vineyard and one foot on the boat.\u201d\nOf particular interest is also the testimony of Father Antonio Minasi who, in 1775, in a note accompanying his\nillustrations dedicated to Scilla, offers a fascinating glimpse into the relationships between this territory, the\nAeolian Islands and the circulation of vine varieties:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the Greek vines flourished there, from which the ancient people of Scilla obtained great quantities of\nMalvasia, in no way inferior to that of Candia and Crete, the doves pecked entire bunches of grapes from them\nand thus, with their crops full of Jupiter\u2019s ambrosia, almost flying, returned to their nests on the high rock of\nScilla, where many resident hawks and falcons stood watch, and always carried some of them away, as still\nhappens today. Now, however, neither the timid doves nor Father Jupiter himself can any longer taste such a\nfine liquor, since the Greek vines were transplanted and given to the people of Lipari after 1557, perhaps because\nof the imposed jus octini, as constant local tradition maintains.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Today, the vineyard area of Scilla is considerably reduced compared to the past.\nTraditional training systems such as the \u201calberello\u201d and the \u201cpergola\u201d (Lipari-style pergola) have partly been\nreplaced by the \u201cspalliera\u201d system, more suited to modern requirements.\nAmong the varieties still present are: Alicante, Calabrese Nero, Castiglione, Greco Nero, Inzolia, Nerello Mascalese,\nNocera, Pedilongo, Prunesta and Zibibbo, the latter traditionally cultivated as a table grape or for\nsmall domestic wine productions.\nThe wine historically most representative of the territory is the \u201cCerasuolo di Scilla\u201d, whose name recalls the\ncolour of the cherry, between red and ros\u00e9.\nIt is a wine obtained according to traditional practices that involve a combination of different grape varieties,\nwith a predominance of Pedilongo, a black grape variety locally known as Malvasia Nera.\nA valuable testimony regarding this wine is reported by Luigi Veronelli, considered the father of modern wine\nand food criticism, who in his book I vini d\u2019Italia, published in 1961, wrote:<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is local custom to blend all the different varieties from the vineyard (marcarese, malvasia, moscato, prenestina,\nalicante, nocera, castiglione, olivarella).
\nBright cerasuolo colour, vinous aroma; moderately sweet, very pleasant flavour. A delightful wine that I recommend,\nserved rather cool, with the delicate local ricottas.\nIn Scilla excellent red wines are produced, smooth and robust, which take their names from the localities of the\nvineyards from which they come: Ieracare, Favagreca and Pac\u00ec.
\nParticularly pleasant is the so-called Malvasia di Scilla, produced from the grape of the same name.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Since 1995, the wine production of the Scilla area has obtained IGT recognition for the denominations \u201cScilla\u201d\nand \u201cCosta Viola\u201d, confirming the value and identity of a heritage that still tells, today, a long story of labour,\nknowledge and challenge between man and nature.<\/p>\n<\/div>
Giuseppe Ribuffo<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/i>Next page: 78. Birthplace of Giovanni Minasi, Historian<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1893,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1368","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nVini, vitigni e terrazzamenti di Scilla - Discover Scilla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/vini-vitigni-e-terrazzamenti-di-scilla\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vini, vitigni e terrazzamenti di Scilla - Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/en\/vini-vitigni-e-terrazzamenti-di-scilla\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Discover Scilla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-19T08:23:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.discoverscilla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/77-Ignoto-inglese-1863-1024x694.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"694\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/vini-vitigni-e-terrazzamenti-di-scilla\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.discoverscilla.com\\\/vini-vitigni-e-terrazzamenti-di-scilla\\\/\",\"name\":\"Vini, vitigni e terrazzamenti di Scilla - 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