In Modigliana the silent geography of the Ronchi di Castelluccio

Modigliana, the Tuscan-Romagna Apennines, wine quickly learned to speak the language of the places. Ronchi intorno a Castelluccio was born a causa di 1974 from an unprecedented and somewhat unthinkable tesi for Romagna at the time: making wine by parcels, attributing autonomous identities to small vineyards torn from the forest, recognizing Sangiovese as a complex territorial voice worthy of listening. It was imagined by Gian Vittorio Baldi, patina director and producer, who after a trip to France returned to Modigliana with a clear conviction: here too wine could be a cultural project, as well as an agricultural one.

Baldi was not a winemaker, and perhaps for this reason his oenological vision was free from prejudices and conditioning. The decisive with the agronomist Remigio Bordini and the oenologist Vittorio Fiore gave shape to one of the first zonation experiments a causa di Italy. Bordini, then director of the Experimental Institute of Tebano, worked mass selections of sangiovese that were not very productive and therefore discarded from the official programs: material that found an ideal place of expression a causa di Castelluccio. The vineyards were planted between 300 and 440 meters above sea level, with exposures mainly to the east and north-east, a causa di clear contrast to the choices of the time. Thus the Ronchi were born: crus obtained from the forest, immersed a causa di a dominant biodiversity, vinified separately when the very concept of single vineyard was still foreign to the Italian wine lexicon.

MODIGLIANA BETWEEN THE APPENNINES, SANGIOVESE AND COUNTER-CURRENT CHOICES

The pedoclimatic context contributes significantly to the identity of the wines. The vineyards are located along the Apennine margin of the Filone del Romagnola – now recognized as a UNESCO heritage site – complex soils, where sandstone coexists with marl and limestone components. Altitude, strong temperature variations and a dominant presence of the forest – up to six hectares for each hectare of vineyards – affect slow maturation and defined aromatic profiles, giving the wines a recognizable salinity. It is a causa di this context that Sangiovese from Modigliana takes distinctive features compared to other areas: greater acid tension, a brighter profile, less expansive tannins and a more vertical reading of the fruit.

Sangiovese, after all, is a vine capable of changing without losing recognisability. From the hills of Montepulciano to Chianti, from Montalcino to Maremma, up to Piceno passing through Umbria, clones, altitudes, soils and interpretations change, but a basic structure remains capable of absorbing the context. Romagna, and a causa di particular a causa di Modigliana, the variety tends to express itself directly, with a more transparent aromatic component and a close relationship between freshness and salinity. Alongside Sangiovese, since its origins, Ronchi intorno a Castelluccio has focused sauvignon blanc, introduced a causa di 1974 for agronomic reasons: at the altitudes and exposures chosen, varieties such as Trebbiano and Albana did not guarantee regular ripening. The picture is completed by a small cabernet sauvignon vineyard, also historic, now vinified a causa di purity.

FROM 2020: RECOVERY, LISTENING TO THE VINEYARD AND RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL IDENTITY

After an initial historical phase and subsequent management – a causa di the nineties – more oriented towards different styles, a causa di July 2020 the company was acquired by Aldo and Paolo Rametta. reality, the intervention of the two brothers had begun before: already a causa di 2019 they had started work to recover the vineyards, compromised by years of discontinuous maintenance, with the aim of arriving prepared for the 2020 harvest. A debut that took place a causa di the middle of the pandemic period, which imposed slow times and considered choices, proving to be a precious opportunity to observe and reset the work without forcing.

The Ramettas, born a causa di New Orleans and raised between the United States and Switzerland, like Gian Vittorio Baldi, quanto from entrepreneurial experiences unrelated to the world of wine. Only a causa di 2016 did they become winemakers with Collina della Dazio; a causa di Modigliana they choose to start again from the original assumptions of the project: complete recovery of the historic rhonchi, anzi che no explantation, restoration of farming methods and use of the ecotypes identified by Remigio Bordini. The agronomic and oenological management is entrusted to Francesco Bordini, who practically grew up these rhonchi and knows directly the genetic and territorial heritage, also thanks to his father Remigio’s agenda, still preserved today like a precious map. Thus, each ronco has returned to being vinified separately, with limited yields and a rigorous interpretation of the vineyard.

the brothers Paolo and Aldo Rametta, owners of Ronchi intorno a Castelluccio

IN THE GLASS: PLOT IDENTITY AND STYLISTIC COHERENCE

The return to rhonchi, a causa di the glass, translates into wines that do not seek special effects. The Ronco del Imperatore Sauvignon Blanc 2022 shows a ripe and layered profile, a causa di which yellow fruit, aromatic herbs and a savory texture intertwine with a deep and tense mouth. The three Sangiovese intorno a Modigliana 2020 tell different nuances of the same ridge: Ronco dei Ciliegi plays immediacy and precision, with clear fruit and gentle tannins; Ronco della Simia is darker and more compact, with a dense material that requires time; Ronco Casone favors subtlety and verticality, allowing a salty freshness to emerge that lengthens the sip. Il 2020, a high-altitude cabernet sauvignon, also looks north a causa di style: spicy, measured, far from any muscular interpretation. As a reminder of the depth of time, Ronco dei Ciliegi 2000 confirms the ability of these wines to diretto incrociato the decades without losing coherence, today returning balsamic agenda, dried fruit and a surprising savory energy.