There always seems to be an event happening in Bologna around food or wine. And with the upcoming Christmas celebrations, these events have been more frequent as well as educational.  They have consumed my weekends as I fully participate in order to share them with you (such a burden!). A little behind on the posts but plenty in the bag to inform and entertain through the following weeks.

The Palazzo Re Enzo, built in the 13th century and named for a Sardinian king imprisoned there, was the venue for the 2015 Enologica featuring the wines of Emilia-Romagna,Italy.  This was a wine tasting on a grand scale with the wine growers of the region proudly displaying their wines and happy to talk with you about the different grapes.  For 20 Euros, I received an ample wine glass for sampling the wines all weekend.  And you needed a weekend as this is not like wine tastings in the US where you are poured a small amount that just teases the palate. Wine here is much treasured and as I started my first tasting, I realized that they were very generous with their portions and anxious to have you taste several, if not all of their offerings.  After my first round, I made sure to limit the amount poured or I knew I was not going to make too many tastings from the roughly 150 vintners present.

Upon first entering the palatial space that this event was held in, I had that familiar feeling of – ‘oh how will I understand what they are saying about their wines’. I enjoy learning about different wines, how they are grown, the climate, food pairings, etc. To me it enhances the experience of enjoying the wines.  But I did not fear for long, as most spoke English in varying degrees as they deal with distributors from various countries, including the US.

The wines of Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna is comprised of 2 regions that were combined in 1948.  One of the things you first learn when traveling in Italy is that the regions’ wines complements its foods. Emilia is heavily influenced by foods made with butter and pork thus an affinity for sparkling wines from this region. Romagna, settled by the Romans, utilized olive oil and the wine addresses the need to balance the flavors while eating. For more information read about the wines of Emilia-Romagna from a local blogger, Silvia Donati.

Lambrusco

The much maligned Lambrusco hails from the areas of Parma, Reggio Emilia and Modena and pairs well with the prosciutto and parmesan cheese found in this region. Many know Lambrusco from the 1980’s when Riunite was the rage and known as a cheap,sweet wine.  The Lambrusco grape ranges from the Grasparossa to a Salamino or Sorbara  or a blend of these and other Lambrusco grapes.Today these are finely produced and among these wines can be found  amabile (semi-sweet), semi-dry and dry (secco) wines that are a pleasure to enjoy, cold and fizzy.  Not always easy to find in the US, you must try this wine while sampling the region’s foods. I chatted with the representative from Cleto Chiarli and tasted several types of their Lambruscos. I was able to find one of their wines in a small wine store on the island where I lived  in Maine after having it at a well-known ristorante in Bologna, Grassilli’s, right around the corner from my apartment.

I also met a lovely woman, Rita, from Lusvardi wines that produced delightful sparkling Lambrusco’s from roses to reds. As Rita had lived for a time in Chicago her English was excellent and we spent time chatting as I tried all four of their Lambrusco’s. The wines were crisp and easy to drink and I would like to try them paired with food.

There are other wines from Emilia such as the white Malvasia and a wonderful red Barbera with an intense flavor.

The hills of Bologna also produce a white wine, Pignoletto, that goes well with appetizers and the traditional Bolognese tortellini in brodo (broth). It is pale yellow in color and can be produced as a still wine or when naturally bottle fermented it becomes a sparking wine.

In the Romagna region you find the white Albana grape with four versions of wine produced ranging from dry to a dessert wine. Several years ago, while I was developing a tour of the region, we visited a small local producer in Faenza- Leone Conti.  We were treated to a wonderful tour of their wine production and tasted their excellent wines. The owner was a lover of American rock ‘n roll of the 60’s and 70’s  and named one of his wines “Pis & Lov”. In Italian ‘i’ is pronounced like ‘e”- hence Peace and Love but not knowing this you may wonder why anyone would name their wine Pis!  They developed a dessert wine from the Albana grape that is a wonderful complement to cantucci, a sweet biscotti dunked in the wine. It is called- “Non ti scordar ti me”- Don’t forget me. And I have not!

Sangiovese di Romagna

But the king of this region is the Sangiovese di Romagna  grape. Often ignored for its neighboring Tuscan brother by outside distributors, the Sangiovese di Romagna varies based on the area in which it is grown with a more full-bodied wine found in the provinces of Forli and Ravenna and thrives in the soils found in the hills of the Apennines. The local vintners have been working with the Sangiovese’s various clones to produce high quality wines.

These producers are very proud of their Sangiovese wine and I had the pleasure of tasting some of their best.  The riserva from Villa I Raggi was a great example of a wonderful full-bodied red that can compete with its Tuscan brother.  It was great to have them ask me to taste several of their wines to appreciate the range within their own products.

I was first drawn to the wines of Pandolfa by their label design.  They had recently redesigned the labels to be more eye-catching and indeed they were.  And they too had a wonderful riserva along with a superiore.  They also produce a white using the Trebbiano grape.

I met several other producers of Sangiovese wines and we discussed the lack of marketing of their wines in the United States. They feel overshadowed by the popularity that the Tuscan Sangiovese receives from the hordes of tourists who visit that region through the intense marketing of Tuscany. They mention the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun” making people think that Tuscany is nirvana and wish that their wines would at least be explored more by the wine distributors.  I mentioned I knew some in Maine and they all wanted me to pass on thoughts about the wines.  They indicated they cannot even get distributors to visit the smaller producing vineyards and feel that they can offer a great quality wine at a lower price.  I said I would pass on this information to those I knew.

Getting recognition

One of the vintners that was the most outspoken about this had also started his own wine and food tour business as a way to market his wines to the tourists, also hoping they would start asking for the wines upon their return and generate more interest. I did remark I do not recall ever having a Sangiovese di Romagna at any of the wine tastings I had attended through the years.  As Emilia-Romagna is still not a main tourist destination for those from the United States, the wines may not have the appeal to sell well.  I said I would connect with him in the spring to explore his tours as part of my plan to provide guidance about local tours and develop itineraries for people desiring to sample this region of Italy.

The other US market that some of the vintners said was hard to break into is that of organic wines.  The standards for organic wines are higher in the US, even debated by some.  It seems to revolve around organic wines having no added sulfites while the producers in Europe say they are needed due to the shipping time to preserve the wine. I had this discussion a few years back with a friend of mine who is a wine expert in France and had been investigating bringing French organic wines to the US.

I do want to clarify that this post is about my experiences and impressions in talking with the various vintners and by no means should be used as a definitive guide to the wines. After all I was under the influence and my memory is not always the best!   But I did want to introduce these wines to those who have an interest in wines and not familiar with those from the Emilia-Romagna region. There are some restaurants in New York and New Jersey that feature the cuisine and wines of this region. And if you ever get to Eataly in New York (I hear that one is opening in Chicago) look through the wines to see if some of the ones I talked about are available.

I know I look at labels now in the local stores with more knowledge about the grapes and the vintners and take delight in sampling those with whom I chatted.

Colorful labels of Pandolfa