Emilia Romagna is starting up again, with its great wines, too, and the “Preview” of Sangiovese di Romagna

The enthusiasm, passion, courage and determination that have always been the strengths of wine companies in Romagna, severely hit by the recent floods, will be felt even stronger. WineNews is absolutely sure of it. One of the facts that make it possible are the in-depth studies of the territory from a geological point of view, increasing awareness in interpreting the wines. To start with, “Sangiovese Sottozona”, produced in the 16 sub-areas, at the top of the quality pyramid, boosted by the collective brand, “Rocche di Romagna”. The merit goes to the Vini di Romagna Consortium, which has announced the new dates for “Vini ad Arte”, the leading event for the press and sector professionals where Romagna wines are previewed. The event unfortunately, has had to be postponed, due to the extreme bad weather emergency, and will take place from July 17th to 20th. The program of activities scheduled includes visits to vineyards and wineries, situated in the beautiful natural, historical, cultural and culinary environments, and to the MIC-International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, a Unesco World Heritage Site, revealing the new vintages of Romagna Sangiovese Riserva DOC 2020 and Romagna Albana DOCG Secco 2022, by more than 50 producers.
It will be a wonderful opportunity for the Consorzio Vini di Romagna, led by its new president, Roberto Monti (7 Cooperative wineries, 103 wine producers, 5 bottlers, a total of 5.200 wineries, vineyards registered in the Albana DOCG register, and the 5 DOC ing the area, Romagna, Colli d’Imola, Colli di Faenza, Colli Romagna Centrale, Colli di Rimini. 6.235 hectares are planted with Sangiovese, on average, 11 million bottles produced), to tell the International press about the “Rocche di Romagna” brand and their “Sangiovese Sottozona” wines. The Consorzio Vini di Romagna began the project about 10 years ago, with the idea of helping to distinguish the territories and their most identifying Sangiovese. In 2022, the “Subzone” project received a definite boost by creating the collective brand, “Rocche di Romagna”, as well as acknowledging more hill districts, to reach a total of 16 territories in the zoning area. “Sangiovese Sottozona” are hill wines of the specific “Subzone” geographical identifier, at the top of the quality pyramid. Their distinguishing characteristic is they are made of 100% Sangiovese grapes, according to Romagna tradition, which was opposed to vinifying blends from nearby Tuscany.
In the meantime, the top Sangiovese of Romagna wines from the sub-zones will be the stars of the solidarity event “Piacere Sottozona”, to be held on May 30th at the Best Western Plus Tower Hotel in Bologna. The tasting will be dedicated to wine lovers and sector professionals, organized by AIS-Italian Sommelier Association Emilia, and AIS Romagna. All proceeds will be donated to the Agency for Territorial Security and Civil Protection in Emilia-Romagna to support emerging activities help repair damages caused by the flood in all the provinces of the Romagna and up to the metropolitan area of Bologna (entrance is by donation, minimum 10 euros, to be paid directly to the following IBAN: IT69G0200802435000104428964 stating: “Emilia-Romagna flood”; info here). There will be tasting tables of all the producers of the Subzone project, led by AIS sommeliers, as well as Master classes organized by the Consorzio Vini di Romagna on “Sangiovese Sottozona”, and Roberto Gardini, the award-winning AIS sommelier and trainer will be the exceptional speaker. Each Master class will present 9 wines for tasting, selected by the Consortium, and an in-depth story about the Sub-zones and the value of the collective brand, “Rocche di Romagna”.