 | THE WINERY | | | THE PROPERTIES | The winery comprises two separate
estates, one in the hills near Imola,
the other in the hills of Forlì. The
winery’s total area amounts to
some 55 hectares, all of it planted
to vines. The winery’s main facilities
and administration are in the centre
of the Imola estate, which lies in
the Tre Monti (Three Mountains)
area constituted by Imola’s first
band of hills. At about 100 metres’
elevation, this property covers some
30 hectares, all in vines, with the
vineyards facing southeast.
Soils are primarily silty-clay, and
quite dense.
Soil studies confirmed what years
of experienced had revealed: the
specific Imola vineyard sites and their
soil profile make them particularly
well-suited for the production of
white-wine grapes.
The microclimate that distinguishes
the Valle del Rio Sanguinario is
marked by nighttime temperatures
significantly lower than those during
the day, which develops aromatic
complexity in the grapes, particularly
those for white wines.
The Petrignone property, covering
some 28 hectares, enjoys a
magnificent position in the Forlì hills,
a terrace at 150 metres’ elevation,
with a sweeping view of the Romagna
plain below.
All of its vineyards face south.
The soil is sandy clay, with good
pebbly texture. But the property is
really a microcosm of various soil
types.
Zonation studies of the winery
properties have revealed a
tremendously wide range of soil
profiles even within each property,
making it necessary to subdivide
them further into more localised
microclimates.
Detailed understanding of the
properties has made possible the
planting of grape varieties suited
specifically to each site, which has
considerably boosted the quality and
complexity of the fruit they yield. And
optimal fruit quality is precisely the
purpose of this project, so that the
estate wines will reflect to an ever
greater degree the characteristics of
their unique origin.
With the native varieties in particular,
the goal is to find that perfect
equilibrium between experience as
legacy of the past and the more
scientific awareness created today. A
further goal, a bit utopian perhaps, is to
preserve the heritage varieties present
on the winery estates; already the best
cultivars of sangiovese, which are also
the oldest here, have been selected
out. They will be carefully propagated,
in the hope of forging a viticultural
link that will bind together all of our
local history up to the present moment
and passing on that cultural complex,
as complete as we can make it, to the
wine lovers…and dreamers…who will
come after us. | | THE NATIVE VARIETIES | Albana, trebbiano, and, of course,
sangiovese.
Albana, the first Italian white wine
to win official DOCG recognition,
in 1987, today faithfully reflects an
amalgam of ancient experience and
contemporary discoveries.
The actual cultivar of albana that we
use is called “della Serra”; it gives
a wine of emphatic character, which
eloquently expresses the strong
personality of its parent region, and
a suite of distinctive qualities greatly
prized by aficionados throughout the
world.
Our winery can justly be considered
a kind of laboratory, since its two
terroirs have represented over time,
as they continue to do today, a
genuine experimental station for
Romagna’s own grape par excellence,
sangiovese.
While the area of Imola yields wines
of crisp liveliness, those from Forlì are
leaner and more complex, and not
devoid of a hint of a tangy minerality, a
contribution from the nearby Adriatic.
Thus, a lifelong and profound
understanding of our local terroir and
the accumulated humus of experience,
harvest after harvest, have focused
our attention and efforts on precisely
these varieties, as our contribution to
ensuring a vibrant, authentic future
for Romagna viticulture. |
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