A delightful wine dedicated to Crito, a young follower of Socrates.

While shopping for red wines I came across a white with an interesting name: Critone. I knew that Crito was a friend and follower of Socrates. Imagine my surprise to find that this wine was in fact named for Crito. The Librandi site states:

In the Socratic dialogue, Plato harmoniously combines the philosophic wisdom of Socrates with the humane rationality of his young friend and disciple Crito to produce some of his best thought. In the wine of the same name, we have combined the quality of introduced varieties of grape with ancient local wine-making tradition to create a unique top quality wine.

It is indeed a delightful coming together of Chardonnay (90%) and Sauvignon (10%). Critone has a beautiful nose, nice complexity, and medium body. You can taste the fruit, but they don't over power the anise flavors. These are the balanced flavors that sum up this friendly wine.

The Librandi winery is located in an area of Italy little known to Americans. Calabria is the "toe" of the Italian boot. Calabria is one of the most heavily wooded areas in Italy (28.2% of its surface). The chestnut woodlands begin at 700-800 m., stretching up to 1,200 m., where they are succeeded by beechwoods, which give way to the conifer belt, with pines and spruces.

This geography and it's location near the Ionian sea give the Librandi winery wonderful natural resources that are captured in their wines. The Librandi winery is a family run estate, but they have outstanding guidance as well. "Donato Lanati, who is Professor of Enology at the Universities of Turin and Rome as well as a consultant for some of Italy’s top wine companies, has overseen Librandi’s technical development starting with the 1998 vintage."

I highly recommend the Librandi Critone, which is a bargain at $8.