First half tries from Lloyd Williams – fittingly on his 100
th appearance for the region - and wing wonder Tom James gave Cardiff Blues a hard fought 15-6 advantage before they cut loose in the second period.
Further tries from Ellis Jenkins, Dan Fish, Blaine Scully, Gavin Evans and a late penalty try saw the visitors romp to a record away European win while the Italians were shut out at the other end.
It was the ideal start for Danny Wilson’s men as they overtook Harlequins at the top of the pool standings ahead of the visit of English giants to BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park on Thursday night.
Ahead of the game there was an impeccably observed minute’s silence following the horror of the terrorist attacks in Paris the previous night.
But come kick-off the volume was fully cranked by a vocal crowd of 1,500, swelled by a large number of fans from Cardiff Blues who had made the trip from Wales to enjoy European rugby.
Inspired by that backing, it was the visitors who settled the quicker and pinned Calvisano back in the early stages with Wales international wing Alex Cuthbert twice making clean line breaks while scrum half Williams was a constant threat around the fringes.
However, it was the Italians who opened the scoring on seven minutes after their first attack of note wielded a penalty that was confidently popped over by home fly half Filippo Buscema.
Cardiff Blues - wearing the new European #StayStrongForOws kit - looked to assert early pressure at the set piece with prop Dillon Lewis congratulated by team-mates after forcing an early scrum penalty.
Twice Rhys Patchell kicked to the corner to set up drives and after several muscular hit ups by the pack it was scrum half Williams who wriggled out of tackles from close range and dived over.
Territory was firmly in the ascendancy for Cardiff Blues and, after being repeatedly forced back, the home side were struggling to contain in-form full back Dan Fish as he returned any clearing kicks with interest.
A second visiting try looked like a matter of time and duly arrived on 25 minutes after an initial burst from centre Gavin Evans, as he brushed off two tacklers in midfield, split the home defence wide open.
The ball was spun the opposite direction down the back line and a final flat pass by Patchell into the hands of James ensured there was no stopping the wing who slid over. Patchell added the difficult extras from out wide for a 12-3 lead.
Calvisano were displaying plenty of heart, despite limited possession, and were rewarded for attacking invention, after a charged down kick resulted in a second penalty from Buscema.
But one final attack before the interval was created by the marauding Ellis Jenkins who swotted off men on halfway and fed the on-rushing Jarrad Hoeata on his right shoulder.
The forwards quickly took ball on courtesy of James Down and Gethin Jenkins before the referee penalised a rapidly retreating Calvisano defence and Patchell stroked over the kick for a 15-6 half-time lead.
The visiting momentum continued after the break as Cardiff Blues hunted a third try and a gap that would almost certainly end the game as a contest.
And it was forwards took the game by the scruff of the neck with series of lineout drives halted illegally before it was a case of third time lucky as the pack finally found a way over with Ellis Jenkins smashing over.
The wait for the bonus point lasted only four minutes as the backs this time took the chance to shine and neat hands freed up space for Fish who threw a delightful dummy and darted in under the posts.
A third successful penalty kick from Buscema did little to stem the flow as Wilson emptied his bench as the game wore on to give his side fresh impetus and drive.
Replacement Blaine Scully was quickly in on the act and celebrated his first try when more confident handling from the backs, and a clever offload in the tackle from Samoa centre Rey Lee-Lo, sent the American international skidding over.
Into the final ten minutes and, with the home side visibly tiring, it seemed only a matter of how many more points Cardiff Blues would chase.
They showed no signs of letting up as Gavin Evans cut a neat running line on the 22, took a flat pass at pace and raced away from the defence and over.
Fittingly it was the forwards, who had impressed all afternoon, who had the final word in the last minute.
Another big driving lineout was marched up field and, when the Italians dragged it down close to the line, referee Craig Maxwell-Keys was straight under the posts to give Jarrod Evans the simple task of adding the conversion to bring up a half century of points.
Timeline:
07m Buscema p 3-0
17m Williams t 3-5
25m James t Patchell c 3-12
39m Buscema p 6-12
40m Patchell p 6-15
45m Jenkins t Patchell c 6-22
49m Fish t Patchell c 6-29
54m Buscema p 9-29
58m Scully t Patchell c 9-36
73m G Evans t J Evans c 9-43
79m Penalty t J Evans c 9-50
Cardiff Blues: 15 Dan Fish (Scully 50), 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Rey Lee-Lo, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Tom James, 10 Rhys Patchell (J Evans 64), 9 Lloyd Williams (Knoyle 59); 1 Gethin Jenkins (Davies 59), 2 Kristian Dacey (Rees 42-50, 69), 3 Dillon Lewis (Mitchell 75), 4 Jarrad Hoeata (Reed 64), 5 James Down, 6 Ellis Jenkins, 7 Sam Warburton, 8 Josh Turnbull (vosawai 69)
Replacements: 16 Matthew Rees, 17 Thomas Davies, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Lou Reed, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Jarrod Evans, 23 Blaine Scully