Cantina di Bazzano (Bazzano Winery):
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| The Cantina di Bazzano, in the province of Bologna | |
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| The full cycle bottling system Of course, the wine being bottled in the picture is Pignoletto dei Colli Bolognesi DOC |
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| Walkway at the top of the autoclaves for the re-fermentation of the wines to be bottled. | |
| Photographs: Loris Scagliarini | |
PignolettoPignoletto is the name of an indigenous grape variety which produces the delicious, exclusive wine with the same name. The grape is considered "King of the Colli Bolognesi (Bologna hills) wine zone", and rightly so. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry regulations, for whose implementation and safeguard the Colli Bolognesi Wine Consortium is responsible, stipulates that, to produce this wine at least 85% of the grapes must be Pignoletto and the rest must be grapes of permitted varieties producing "white non-aromatic berries", grown exclusively in the Colli Bolognesi DOC.
There is no accurate, definitive written documentation about this particular grape variety, but there are plenty of wise and well-founded historic references. Pliny the Elder, in his "Naturalis Historia", written in the 1st century AD, mentioned a wine called "Pino Lieto", which, in his words, "is not sweet enough to be good", and therefore was not truly appreciated. It is a well known fact that the Ancient Romans loved very sweet wines, thus, from statements such as this we can deduce that the Pignoletto was already known in Roman times, though it was probably drunk mostly by the peasants. Tanara, in his 1653 treatise entitled "Economia del Cittadino in Villa" (Economy of the Citizen Living in a Country Villa), made specific references to "Pignolo grapes", which were cultivated in the hills in the province of Bologna. This though, was considered a different grape variety with similar ampelography.
The leaves are pentagonal in shape and have three lobes, a wide V-shaped petiole sinus, and are dark green in color, shiny, with a smooth surface, while the underside is paler. The clusters are medium-sized but dense, or medium loose, elongated, and have an amber-tinged green color. The woody shoots are long, strong and flexible, but don't have many spurs and the cross section is elliptical-shaped. The trunk shows good vigor and thrives on the well-drained limestone and clay soil of the Bologna hills, which are rich in macro-minerals and trace elements. The soil gives Pignoletto its typical characteristics and uniqueness for which it is so well appreciated. The vines are trained according to the Cordon Spur, or Guyot, system and bud fairly early in the season, around mid April, and the grapes ripen at the beginning of October. These splendid, characteristic grapes are used exclusively to produce a wine that is decidedly unique and that obtained the DOC recognition in 1985. Pignoletto is produced in various "styles", from still, where its characteristics remain unaltered; to naturally fermented, which makes it slightly sparkling; and as a "superiore", with a natural alcohol content of 12% by volume coming from the grapes. These styles of wine are bottled in the typical high-shouldered, Bordeaux-style bottle, and the vintage is indicated on the labels. In addition, sparkling wines are produced either according to the Charmat method, with temperature-controlled second fermentation in tanks, or the classic method with second fermentation in Champenoise bottles with mushroom corks for a minimum of 9 months. The Pignoletto grapes are grown, made into wine and bottled in the DOC wine district area only. Fruity, elegant and light, this wine is excellent as aperitif. It's perfect with Italian-style antipasti (hors d'oeuvres) made with fish, tigelle (small, flat, round kind of bread), vegetables and eggs. It pairs well with all types of dishes, but particularly with white meats and young cheeses, which bring out the best of it. It is also a natural partner for tortellini in brodo! It can be enjoyed on all occasions, as it lifts the spirits at any get-together and, to enjoy its typical taste to the full, we recommend drinking it young, uncorking it just before serving it at 8°- 10°C (46.4°-50°F.) |
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| Source: Colli Bolognesi Wine Consortium | |
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The Cantina di Bazzano was founded in 1928 by a small group of farsighted, entrepreneurial vintners. After a truly successful beginning, characterized by constant growth of wine production, the vineyards in the area were almost destroyed by a phylloxera vastatrix infection that annihilated the Italian vine heritage almost completely in the 1930s.
In 1941, with production at a small fraction of what it used to be before the debacle, and with WW II about to start, the founding members decided to suspend production and sale of wine, awaiting better times. Ten years later, in 1951, thanks in particular to the initiative of engineer Pietro Bracchi, the winery restarted production, experiencing instant success and continuous growth. So much so that in 1960 the working area was doubled, and in 1972 the winery was able to produce as much as 85,000 hectoliters (around 2.25 million gallons) of wine.
During the 1980s, a new trend started, emphasizing wine quality over quantity. Thus new installations took place, including a cutting edge, complete process, bottling system capable of delivering 5,000 bottles per hour, a point of sale open to the public for the sale of bulk and bottled wine, a series of autoclaves for the re-fermentation of the wines to be bottled, and a new, temperature-controlled cellar.
Toward the end of the 1980s, the winery merged with the Cantina di Castelfranco (Emilia), a modern, full cycle winery, which produced especially Lambrusco, both from grapes grown in the flatlands and the renowned Grasparossa di Castelvetro variety cultivated in the low slopes of the Modena Apennines. With the merger, the grape production area included the provinces of Modena and Bologna, reaching from the border of Tuscany to the outskirts of the Ferrara province, and production included various lines of DOC and IGT wines.
Currently the winery has about 5,000 vintner members who contribute their grapes, has warehousing capability for up to 145,000 hectoliters (over 3.83 million gallons) of wine, processes about 9,000 metric tons of grapes per year, and bottles several wines under four different DOC appellation: Colli Bolognesi (Bologna Hills), Lambrusco Grasparossa di Castelvetro, Reno and Sangiovese di Romagna.
Products
The winery produces three lines of wines: Selezione (Selection), Tradizionale (Traditional) and Giuditta.
| The Selezione line includes: | |||||
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| The Tradizionale line includes: | |||||
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| The Giuditta line, introduced for the first time in September 2005, on the occasion of the annual Autunno Bazzanese (Bazzano's Autumn), includes: | |||||
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