Emilia Romagna

DOCG for white wine in the region of Emilia-Romagna in Italy. The zone includes 22 communes in the foothills of the Apennines in the provinces of Bologna (7), Ravenna (5) and Forlì-Cesena (10). Legend has it that an Albana wine was produced in this area in the 5th century. Galla Placidia (duaghter of a Roman imperator) was served the Albana wine by the citizens of the city of Bertinoro, and is said to have exclaimed on tasting the wine: „non di così rozzo calice sei degno, o vino, ma di berti in oro“, or: „Oh wine, you do not deserve to be served in such a rough cup, you should be drunk from a gold cup“. Today, the citizens of Bertinoro consider this to bet he origin of the name of their city. The medieval wine writer, Petrus de Crescentiis (1230-1320), also described an Albana wine as being „very strong and of noble taste, well suited for long maturation and at the same time quite subtle“. The wine is yellow straw to golden yellow, and is a 100% varietal wine made from various clones of the Albana Albana variety, available in the following versions: Secco (11,5% vol), Amabile (12% vol) and Dolce (12% vol), and also as a sweet Passito (up to 15,5% vol) made from raisined grapes. It was the first white wine in Italy to be awarded a DOCG classification in 1987. The best recent vintages are 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004. Well-known producers include Celli, Umberto Cesari, Leone Conti, Fattoria Paradiso, Fattoria Zerbina, Giovannao Madonia and Tenuta Uccellina. Spumante made in the same area is classified as DOC Romagna Albana Spumante.