A vine that has been talked about a great deal in Romagna is Famoso. Its white aromatic grapes have an engaging flavour and aromas and its history is steeped in mysteries with an end that is still partly to be written. We will begin with the name. Although Famoso is the most common name, in the areas around Ravenna it is more often called Rambèla or Rambella, while in the province of Forlì-Cesena it is also referred to by the names of Valpeisa and Valdoppiese. The area cultivated today in Romagna is limited to little more than 80 hectares but this figure is increasing constantly. Little by little it is living more up to its name increasingly (Famoso = famous). Some historical sources state that Rambella was present in a table of the municipal duty of Lugo in 1437 as a table grape sold fresh in the squares. Others list it together with the white grapes at the hunting lodge of Count Tampieri at Solarolo. In folder V of the Bullettino Ampelografico of 1876 it is described in great detail: the dotted brown shoots, round leaves in the shape of a heart and large almost cylindrical oblong bunch with large stalk are the main distinguishing features together with the oval berry and the “thick yellowish transparent skin with excellent flavour”.
Around the year 2000 two old rows were reported in the area of Mercato Saraceno (Forlì-Cesena) which the owner indicated by the name of Famoso. Later ampelographic investigations revealed great similarity with Valdoppiese or Rambella, to the point that Rambella was supposed to be synonymous with the Famoso of Cesena, mentioned in folder X of the Bullettino Ampelografico (1879). The Famoso of Cesena is described as having “a large tight winged bunch with medium round grapes, covered with a waxy bloom, shoot with very long internodes”. It also states that “it seems as if it can be classified in the group of Albanas; it is unlike the Famoso of Pesaro”. In Romagna then there were two vines, one more similar to Albana (districts of Cesena) and one more similar to Trebbiano (districts of Pesaro and Rimini) which were indicated with the same name “Famoso”. On 27 March 2009 Rambella was listed in the National Register of Vine Varieties with the name of Famoso, but the diatribe on the origin and identity of this vine is still open. What we know for certain instead is that in the hills and on poor soils, it produces less, the bunch is sparser and the grapes are more aromatic. The resultant wines are more sapid and have an innate elegance.
In the plain instead the wine produced enhances the fragrance of ripe exotic fruit, the sweet floral notes and flavours of dried fruit. Along the “Strada della Romagna” one of the first to believe in this vine was Mauro Altini of the La Sabbiona di Oriolo dei Fichi winery.
Mauro explained: “I was looking for a white vine as an alternative to Trebbiano, Albana and Malvasia when in 2005 I came across Famoso during a microvinification wine tasting event featuring forgotten vines guided by the agronomist and oenologist Marisa Fontana. I fell in love with it immediately and decided to plant it by top grafting it and in 2007 I picked the grapes for the first time. It was a lucky decision and even today I adore this wine that enthrals with its characteristic fragrances and flavours”. Excellent as an aperitif, at the table it pairs very well with fish, aromatic or spicy dishes and soups as suggested by another producer of the area Massimiliano Fabbri of Trerè in Faenza: “In our agritourism we suggest it for dishes with intense sunny flavours such as chitarrina (pasta variety) with cacio cheese, pepper and lime or green raviolini with mortadella sautéed in melted butter and chopped pistachios. Alternatively it is also excellent with sliced chicken and sautéed spinach”.
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