Three generations of winemakers shaping the future while honoring the past
October 7, 2025 (Cirò Marina – Calabria, Italy) — When one speaks of the Italian region of Calabria and its wines, it is impossible not to think of Librandi. For three generations, the Librandi family has been at the heart of the region’s viticulture, transforming deep-rooted knowledge and tradition into a benchmark for innovation and quality on the international stage.
The story begins in Cirò Marina in the 1950s with Raffaele Librandi, the tenth of ten children, who founded the company from scratch with the dream of gathering six hectares of vineyards, one for each of his children. From the very beginning, his son Antonio joined him, later followed by Nicodemo. Together, they began bottling and marketing their own wines with a clear ambition: to bring Calabria’s rich wine heritage to the world. In the mid 70s, Librandi became the first winery in Calabria to hire a professional oenologist, Severino Garofano, who was a key figure in the renaissance of southern Italian wines, marking a pivotal step in modernizing local winemaking.
Today, that legacy is carried forward by Nicodemo’s sons, Raffaele and Paolo, alongside the children of Antonio, Francesco and Teresa, who are working with oenologist Donato Lanati to carry on this tradition with technical expertise and innovative vision. This intergenerational leadership has allowed Librandi to preserve its family-driven ethos while embracing a forward-looking approach to sustainability and research.
The estate now stretches across around 400 hectares of property overlooking the Ionian Sea, including 232 hectares of vineyards, 90 hectares of olive groves, and the remainder forested. This unique setting, nestled in the Mediterranean scrub, has inspired Librandi’s philosophy: to preserve and elevate native grape varieties while adopting cutting-edge agronomic practices. Over the years, the winery has become a pioneer in rediscovering and protecting once-forgotten indigenous grapes, combining the ancient bush-trained vines of Cirò with scientific rigor and partnerships with leading experts in viticulture and oenology.
“Our land itself suggested the path,” says the Librandi family. “On the one hand, valuing tradition with historic rootstocks and expert winemaking; on the other, investing in research and innovation to ensure our viticultural heritage is not only preserved but enhanced for the future.”
Sustainability has also been a constant in Librandi’s journey. The company achieved Equalitas certification in 2021 and has since renewed it annually, complementing it with carbon and water footprint analyses to map and offset its environmental impact. Social and cultural initiatives are equally central, including the opening of VI.TE.S., the Museum of Viticulture and Wine, which showcases artifacts and tools from the Librandi family and other local families: a living testimony to Calabria’s agricultural heritage.
Today, Librandi produces over 2 million bottles annually, with exports accounting for nearly 50% of production to more than 40 countries, from the United States, Germany and the UK to Japan, Australia, Mexico and Brazil. Its wines remain unmistakably rooted in Calabria yet resonate with a cosmopolitan audience, embodying the family’s belief that authenticity is the key to global appeal.
With its family history as its compass, Librandi continues to write new chapters in Calabrian winemaking, guided by its enduring commitment to sustainability, research and the land that has shaped it.
