Albana, the gold of Romagna

Albana, the gold of Romagna

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The first white wine in Italy to obtain the CDOG classification in 1987 was Albana di Romagna – now known as Romagna Albana DOCG – and is the queen of winemaking in the region. On the other hand, the king’s gold is the colour that distinguishes this wine in the glass when fully mature, a wine with a decisive character and never banal on the palate, also capable of reaching peaks of excellence in both the dry and the sweet versions with producers that have contributed to making the excellence of this treasure known to the public in bottle form. One of these is without doubt the Stefano Ferrucci windery whose Passito di Albana “Domus Aurea” 2017 was awarded one of the 22 Tastevin 2020 by the Italian Sommelier Association to the best wines of Italy. To understand how an excellent wine is created we interviewed Ilaria and Serena Ferrucci who continue the great work of innovation and preservation of the land in Serra di Castel Bolognese pursuing the quality that their father Stefano sought.

When was your company formed?
The farm has been the family’s property since 1932. At that time our grandfather had concentrated more on livestock, even if there was a vineyard, and most of the cultivation was fruit trees. In the nineteen seventies my father instigated a little revolution which made considerable changes in the way of understanding wine and working.

Stefano Ferrucci is an important name in the wine world of Romagna. How did his venture start?
At the beginning our father did not have any education in vine growing. While finishing his studies to become an engineer he did military service Friuli where an incredible universe of winemaking and agronomy opened up before him. He returned home, looked at our grandfather and said “Why don’t we give it a try too!”

Changing work concepts and choices in a historic farm is never simple…
It is true and consideration must be given to the fact that the wine world of Romagna in those days was very different to what we see today. There were certainly not the levels of knowledge, professionalism and technology that we now have. Anyway, between one argument and another, our father managed to get a little space and have a chance to change route. In this way he was one of the precursors of a great change, the fruits of which we can still enjoying today.

How were the new developments in vine growing and wine production received? At the time didn’t thinning out the bunches mean throwing away food for most people?
Exactly, they did not know that it was one of the practices necessary for producing quality wines. Someone who then worked on our farm always said that the workers did these new jobs by night otherwise they would have been made fun of the next day in the bar of the town.

Since 2006 you have been directing the business. What are your basic tenets?
Our project regards the territory first and above the interests of the family and company. We grow Sangiovese, Trebbiano and Albana, the most important grapes of Romagna.

Your Albana sweet wine has become an absolute landmark for this category of wine. What is special about your Albana di Serra?
It is a clone that was selected in the nineteen sixties, from the agronomical viewpoint it is very strong, a typical trait of Albana, and a very long bunch that reaches 40-50 centimetres in length. The bunch is sparse, a basic feature necessary for good drying, and the stalk starts to turn red in early July. Then we can count on soils rich in limestone and clay. The limestone confers sapid notes to wines while the clay protects the grapes in particularly dry years.

How did Domus Aurea come into being?
Everything started with a vineyard of Albana of 1960. It is supported by maple trees (known as vigna maritata) – every two vines there is a tree – with a very spacious Romagna pergola; the rows are spaced five metres apart and the vines three to four metres apart. The vines are still the original ones, so the production is very balanced and thinning out or other farming practices are not necessary. Grape picking is in three or four stages so that they are picked at the right point of ripening. Then they are hung on frames fitted with wheels. These carriages remain outdoors on sunny days and inside the winery at night until the desired level of drying is obtained. Pressing, clarification, racking-off and fermentation are the stages preceding resting in vats and bottles. Since 2007 we have eliminated wood from the process in order to enhance the freshness and fruitiness of Albana as much as possible.

What can it be paired with?
Blue and mature cheeses, dry biscuits, cheesecake with fruit.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

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