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Librandi's benchmark Calabrian white: Chardonnay 90% with Sauvignon Blanc 10%, fermented in steel, no oak. Pear and peach over citrus, a tropical lift and a clear saline streak. Fresh, savoury and ready to pour now with seafood at about 14 pounds.
Built from drinker consensus across more than 6,000 Vivino ratings and Librandi's own grape notes. Critone is steel-fermented with no oak, so the fruit reads clean: orchard pear and peach, lemon and grapefruit, a tropical lift of pineapple, and the mineral, almost saline streak Calabrian Chardonnay is known for here.
Intense straw yellow in the glass, with a clean orchard-fruit core of pear and peach. Citrus follows in lemon and grapefruit, then a tropical lift of pineapple and mango that Vivino reviewers flag consistently. Fresh almond and a faint marine, saline note round it out, exactly the herb-and-mineral edge Librandi gets from limestone and clay-loam soils at Rocca di Neto.
Citrusy fruit
Grapefruit
Lemon
Mango
Peach
Pear
Pineapple
Nettles
Wet stones
AlmondDry and savoury with very good freshness, the 90% Chardonnay carrying weight at 12.5% while the 10% Sauvignon Blanc adds a green, nettle-like lift. Steel fermentation and no oak keep the fruit clean and the texture light, and a distinct saline streak runs through the middle. It reads aromatic and intense rather than rich, a deliberately international style for Calabria.
Lingering and saline, with citrus and a stony, mineral echo holding the close. Librandi's own framing is deep and persistent; the common drinker verdict is that the wine is so easy it finishes a touch too soon.
Critone is Librandi's benchmark international white and the most awarded white in Calabria, with James Suckling and Vinous both at 90 points for recent vintages and a 3.9 Vivino average across more than 6,000 ratings. It is a fresh, food-friendly, well-priced everyday white to drink within three years, not a wine for the cellar.
Critone is Librandi's high-volume international white, so it stays affordable and easy to find. The current UK listing is the 2025 vintage at about 14 pounds; pricing and stock below come straight from the retailer and are not editorial estimates.
Six dimensions rate where Critone earns its place: strong on food and value, friendly for beginners and everyday pouring, low for cellaring and formal occasions. The scores below reflect a 12.5% steel-fermented Calabria IGT white at an entry price.
Sub-20-pound, light and fresh, and designed to drink young, this is a natural by-the-case midweek white.
James Suckling 90 and Vinous 90 for recent vintages on a Calabria IGT white priced near 14 pounds is strong quality for the money.
Fresh, saline Calabrian white with bright acidity and a light 12.5% body, versatile across raw, steamed and fried seafood and vegetable plates.
An approachable international Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc blend, clean and fruit-led with no oak or tannin to navigate.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
A compact view of what the Calabria denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
Compare tracked offers from verified retailers at a glance. Stock is shown only where the retailer exposes it. Logos, sale pricing, and the strongest offer are surfaced first.
Librandi states an optimal drinking window of one to three years, and the steel-only, no-oak vinification is designed for freshness rather than the cellar. The 2025 is the vintage on shelf and is at its best between 2026 and 2028.
Picked in late August and the first week of September, then fermented cold in stainless steel with no oak. The 2025 shows Critone's signature freshness and saline lift and earned a MUNDUS VINI Silver; drink it inside three years while the fruit is bright.
Picked in late August and the first week of September, then fermented cold in stainless steel with no oak. The 2025 shows Critone's signature freshness and saline lift and earned a MUNDUS VINI Silver; drink it inside three years while the fruit is bright.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
Critone is sourced from Librandi's estates at Rocca di Neto, Casabona and Strongoli on limestone and clay loam, and it has carried real critic weight: James Suckling 90 and Vinous 90 for the 2023, plus a MUNDUS VINI Silver for the 2025. That track record sits behind a Calabria IGT bottle priced near 14 pounds.
Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.
Calabria is in the IGT tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.
Calabria falls within Calabria , covering Calabria.
Critone is Librandi's flagship-volume white from a 230-hectare estate, built on Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc rather than a rare native grape, which keeps the bottle near 14 pounds.
Librandi ferments and holds Critone in stainless steel with no barrel programme, so there is no costly oak or long cellar time to recover in the price.
As a Calabria IGT the wine carries no disciplinare ageing or release-tasting cost, unlike a DOCG, which holds the price at entry level.
Grapes are estate-grown and bottled at origin from Librandi's own Rocca di Neto, Casabona and Strongoli vineyards at 5,000 plants per hectare, which costs more than buying in bulk wine.
James Suckling 90 and Vinous 90 for recent vintages plus a MUNDUS VINI Silver give Critone a reputation premium that a no-name Calabrian white could not command.
UK still-wine duty of 2.67 pounds at 12.5% ABV plus 20% VAT account for roughly 5 pounds of the 14-pound price before the retailer's own margin.
Dishes that complement this wine
Critone's freshness and saline streak make it a seafood wine first. Its 12.5% weight and steel-clean fruit lift fried fish and shellfish, cut through fish risotto, and frame vegetable antipasti, while its softness wants tomato and chilli kept off the plate.
Critone's own saline streak meets the briny salt of shellfish instead of fighting it, and its 12.5% lightness keeps the pairing clean. The steel-fermented, no-oak fruit stays in the background so the seafood reads fresh, the classic match for a savoury Calabrian white.
Try with: Oysters · Mussels · Steamed sea bass · seafood antipasti · raw prawns
The wine's lively acidity and saline finish cut the oil of anything battered or deep-fried, resetting the palate between bites. Librandi designed Critone for freshness rather than weight, so it lifts fritto misto and tempura without adding richness of its own.
Try with: Prawn Tempura · Fish and Chips · Salt and pepper prawns · fritto misto · fried calamari
Critone's fresh acidity slices through the butter and starch of a risotto, while its citrus and orchard fruit echo a seafood or vegetable base. Keep tomato out and the savoury, saline core of the wine carries the dish, a natural Italian pairing.
Try with: Squid ink risotto · seafood risotto · Risotto alla Milanese · Porcini mushroom risotto · More pairings →
The 10% Sauvignon Blanc gives Critone a green, nettle-and-herb edge that bridges to vegetable antipasti and herb-dressed plates. Its tropical pineapple lift and almond note flatter griddled and steamed vegetables where a heavier white would dominate.
Try with: Vegetable antipasti · grilled courgette · artichoke salad · steamed asparagus · herb frittata
At 12.5% and light in body, Critone sits level with delicate seafood pasta rather than overwhelming it. The Chardonnay weight matches a creamy or oil-based sauce while the saline finish keeps the dish from feeling heavy, as long as the sauce stays tomato-free.
Try with: Trofie al pesto · Spaghetti alla chitarra · seafood linguine · prawn spaghetti · More pairings →
Critone is a soft, low-tannin white with modest 12.5% weight, so it has nothing to absorb chilli heat and the burn flattens its delicate fruit. Tomato-based and sweet-sour sauces also clash with its saline core, leaving the wine tasting thin.
Skip with: Goan fish curry · Kerala prawn curry · sweet and sour prawns · arrabbiata · spicy nduja pasta · Pairing guide →
This is a fresh, steel-raised Calabrian white made to drink inside three years of the harvest. There is no oak or lees structure built for ageing, so buy it by the case for summer drinking rather than laying it down.
Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
Entry IGT made in steel with no oak and a one-to-three-year window; built for freshness, not ageing.
£14.00 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 28 Jul 2026, 17:29 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumCritone is a blend of Chardonnay 90% and Sauvignon Blanc 10%, both grown on Librandi's estates in Calabria. The Chardonnay gives orchard fruit and weight, while the Sauvignon Blanc adds a fresh, herbal lift.
The current Critone is a Calabria IGT white. Older vintages were labelled Val di Neto IGT, but recent releases including the 2025 carry the wider Calabria IGT denomination.
It is a fresh, dry white with pear and peach, lemon and grapefruit, a tropical hint of pineapple and a clear saline, mineral streak. Fermented in steel with no oak, it stays clean and savoury rather than rich, at 12.5% alcohol.
Seafood first: oysters, steamed and fried fish, seafood risotto and vegetable antipasti all work with its saline freshness. Avoid chilli heat and tomato-based sauces, which flatten its delicate fruit.
Drink it young. Librandi recommends a one-to-three-year window, so the 2025 vintage is at its best between 2026 and 2028. There is no oak or lees structure built for longer ageing.
The current UK listing is the 2025 vintage at about 14 pounds. That makes it an affordable everyday white given its James Suckling and Vinous 90-point track record.
2 retailers
Calabria
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£14.00
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Calabria
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£18.40
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Calabria
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£30.00
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Calabria
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£28.10
£29.58
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