Val di Neto IGT is one of several (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) titles used in southern Italy's Calabria region. It was created in 1995, when the IGT category was first rolled out across Italy. The Val de Neto cited in title is a shallow valley which runs east-west through the Crotone province, linking the hills of central Calabria with the Ionian coast. It lies just north of the Isola Capo Rizzuto.
© Wikimedia/Beppeveltri
The River Neto is the second largest-river in Calabria (in terms of both length and capacity). The name Neto comes from Greek neaithos, which translates roughly as 'burnt ships'. Legend has it that a group of Trojan women taken captive by the victorious Greeks set fire to their captor's vessels just off the coast here, forcing them to settle in that part of Calabria's Ionian coastline. The Neto estuary is one of the last wetlands on Calabria’s Ionian coast, and is one of the region’s most interesting areas from an ecological and naturalistic standpoint, offering shelter to various species of migratory birds.
The IGT category was introduced in the mid-1990s, to give Italy's vinegrowers and winemakers more freedom in the grapes they grew and the wine styles they produced. The project has (on the whole) proven successful at bringing Italian wines to an international audience, largely because IGT laws permit the use of both traditional, established grape varieties and those 'international' varieties which are known the world over.
As producers get a feel for which varieties will both mesh with their terroir and be well received by consumers, a transition period has set in, during which old and new grow side-by-side in the vineyard. The Val di Neto wine portfolio reflects this, and is neatly divided between red Magliocco Canino, white Mantonico Bianco (two ancient but obscure varieties grown only here in Calabria), and Chardonnay, internationally famous and enduringly popular.
At present the key producer of Val di Neto wines is the Cantina Val di Neto. This family-run winery is typical of southern Italy, and produces wines for both the Melissa DOC and Val di Neto IGT from 545 acres (220 ha) of vines in the valley.
