Manaresi Agricoltura - Zola Predosa, Italy
SUMMER 2020 UPDATE - WE GOT A SPEEDING TICKET!
On our last visit to Manaresi, upon leaving the winery - above the hills of Bologna - heading back toward the city, in residential area on quiet backstreet of Zola Pedrosa, we got a speeding ticket. That unto itself is unremarkable, not because we drive fast, but because everyone knows the game is rigged and everyone get tickets in Italy. Tickets are big there.
The ticket arrived about 380 days after the crime. That too is not unique. What is unique, at least in our travel experiences in Italy, is this: the speed limit in the area is posted at 50 kilometers per hour. The ticket is for being clocked at 51 km per hour. Yes, 51 in a 50. In a crazy Google Translation (are there any that are not crazy?) it is pointed out that the accuracy of their radar equipment - stressing it is regularly tested - is guaranteed to be accurate to within something like our equivalent of 1/6 of an inch per second. As of now we remain fugitives from justice - scofflaws.
Oh, yeah - the winery and the wines…
Manaresi vines, Bologna skyline just muted on the horizon by clouds.
Before the advent of E&R, we recall tasting a cool, fresh, kick-ass white from Emilia-Romagna from the Pignoletto grape.
Huh? Yes that was our reaction too at the time. What's Pignoletto? Over the last twenty years or so, the few we've run across were unexciting. So while Bono still hasn't found what he was looking for, we have. And in two guises! Plus a great bonus surprise- a marvelous, irresistible red- you gotta try it...
May 23, 2015. Zola Predosa.
(@ Bologna's Colli Bolognesi)
5,500 kilometers later: winery visit #55; the last one on our Spring 2015 Italy trip, and the first real hard rain of the trip is hitting. Darkening skies, and for a Saturday, the auto-route all the way from Modena to Bologna is near jammed with "speedy wanna' be's"- windshield wipers a' blazing. And yes, those crazy sports cars we all know buzz the left lane every six or seven minutes- rocketing by, lights flashing, passing me like I'm Grandma Moses on a hobby horse. (Who are all these fidgety full-footed crazies anyway? Is all of Europe filled with frustrated race car drivers, or just Italy?)
Arriving at Donatella and Fabio's stunning hillside hosting arguably Colli Bolognesi's finest winery, while the sun did not mysteriously appear, at least the rain stopped as the of last afternoon's light headed off to bed. The cheerfully serious Fabio leads me on a slippery, thick-mud-caking-walk through parts of their vineyards as we discuss their vines and production. We speak of the importance of their emphasis on organic farming, and how over their last decade higher quality results have been wonderful. After a walking tour of close by vines, we're off by car to visit other parts of their small 8 hectares farm. They describe the terroir as "a well balanced mixture of sand, clay, marl, sandstone, with limestone veins and gravels, a mix that adds more complexity and elegance to wines".
We conclude with a tour through their modern winery that pays tribute to the past and the farm's history. Then on to the tasting. The smiling Donatella has broken away from other business to say hello, and then her wine making duties require her elsewhere. But by the time she departs we've tasted enough to know the wines are great. If they want to work with us, we want work with them!
LOCAL CLASSICS AND A ROSSO SURPRISE
Donatella and Fabio produce a handful of wines, and we have worked with them for five years now. On subsequent visits we’ve found their commitment to farming, learning year by year, continues to make wines which are ever more true to the place. The value remains exceptional.
When in stock, wines from this producer appear below. Click on each wine for more detail.