The Cirò appellation (established as a DOC in 1969) is the heartland of gaglioppo, the red jewel in the crown of Cirò, and the most well-known grape in Calabria in general. The vineyards here are planted along the hillsides (with some in the silty flats nearer the coast) running west to east from the Sila Mountains to the Ionian sea. This geographic positioning is key for gaglioppo, the proximity to the ocean keeping the grapes relatively cool in the extremely hot southern Italian summers, producing a bit of humidity, and the convection winds running between the mountains and the sea providing a relatively large diurnal shift, hot days cool nights, which allows the grapes to ripen fully without being overstressed (the winds also keeping unwanted bugs and fungi at bay).

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The most impressive aspect of Francesco's wines is how precisely they show the true character of gaglioppo. The grape is an ancient varietal, one of the oldest, drunk by the Greeks. It is genetically related to both sangiovese (grown now most famously in Tuscany) and nerello mascalese (of Etna Rosso fame, in Sicily), and has characteristics shared with both: dusty, earthy rose petal and cherry, aggressive tannins, and a bitter bite. The tannins are more black tea leaf than tobacco leaf, the aromatics closer to the Sicilian nerello, or even to Piemontese nebbiolo, than to gaglioppo's more famous southern neighbors: aglianico, nero di troia, and negroamaro. This wine sees no oak, which contributes to its pureness of expression: true Calabrian gaglioppo!

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The 2015 'A Vita is a "Classico Superiore", "classico" because of the vineyard's central location in the heart of the Cirò DOC (the Cirò and Cirò Marina townships), "superiore" due to the achievement of a ripeness level yielding 13.5% alcohol or more (regular Cirò Rosso need reach only 12.5%).