The Beginning
MC Imports was created during a family vacation to our hometown of Siderno, a city in the Province of Reggio Calabria. A visit to a winery gave my grandfather and I the realization that we wanted to bring the passion of wine, along with new traditions directly from Calabria, to families and restaurants in the United States.
The Territory
This ancient and deep viticultural link with its own territory, passion and managerial serenity have led the company to a productive increase and to high level awards. The main vineyards are located in the Contrada “Nescilacqua”, in the territory of the town of Riace and affect both the hinterland and the hills, and the declined plains that look towards the sea; that same sea in whose waters Tideo and Anfiarao were found, the warrior bronzes dating back to the fifth century BC.
The culture of wine in Calabria.
Certainly the Pelasgians, who were protogreci, brought the culture of wine to Calabria. In fact, from Enotri, descendants of the Pelasgi, central-northern Calabria, it was called Enotria or Land of wine.
The arrival of the Achaean and Chalcidian colonists transformed the coastal areas of present-day Calabria into endless vineyards, which produced wine for export.
Sibari’s wine arrived through the city of Miletus, in Asia Minor, in the Persian Empire. The wine from the Magna Graecia cities was transported in amphorae, called by the archaeologists “MGS”, the fragments of which are full of the coasts of the Mediterranean sea. It is believed that mainly raisin wine was produced, obtained from bunches of black berries.
At some point, in the area of the destroyed Sibari, settlers from Thessaly arrived, who introduced in Calabria vines with white grapes, the so-called “aminee lanate”, that is, vines with strongly pubescent leaves. It is thought that the Coda di Volpe from Campania and Calabria or the so-called Guardavalle vines are derived from these vines.
The territory of Locride was dotted with millstones dug out of the rock and this leads us to think that the production of wine, especially dessert, was very strong.
In the whole province of Reggio, about 200 autochthonous vines have been identified, following a superficial investigation and with a more detailed one, the 500 units could be abundantly exceeded.
