As many knows, Parma is an iconic city for Italian food culture. The heart of the most authentic gastronomic tradition of Emilia, Parma is located in a beautiful landscape, right where the Po valley meets the Apennines. A many probably don’t know, Parma is not only home to the famous ham, but it is also home to a pretty remarkable wine production, and Monte delle Vigne is one of the most important wineries of the area. In order to get to know this winery and its territory, we asked few questions to Andrea Ferrari, the man that in 1983 started off his entrepreneurial adventure by founding Monte delle Vigne.
Let’s start from the territory. Where is Monte delle Vigne situated?
Our winery is situated in Ozzano Taro, province of Parma, right on the hills that from the Po Valley lead to the Cisa Pass. Our hills, at 350 mt above sea level, are extremely varied, with woods, lakes and slopes that give the perfect exposure to our white and red grapes.
Which are the characteristics of your terroir?
To talk about our terroir, we need to start from the soil, mainly clay and limestone. That give to our grapes minerality, structure and elegance. Exposure is equally important, west for red grapes and east for white grapes, while on plain areas we grow more adaptable grapes like Merlot and Chardonnay. The typical grape of the area is Barbera, the first local DOC, Colli di Parma, is indeed made of Barbera grapes. As for the white wines, typical grapes are aromatic ones, like Malvasia.
Which wine best represents your identity?
The wine that best represents our identity is Nabucco, because it is the first still wine ever produced in Parma area. It’s the symbol of our winery, and still nowadays it tells a lot about who we are.
I see from your website you are particularly careful about sustainability? What does that mean in concrete actions?
We already have the organic certification for the most part of our production, but it’s not just about that. For us sustainability is directly related to our lifestyle. It means growing vines in perfect harmony with the nature, but mostly it means living our own lives in harmony with the nature.
What is the role of hospitality in your winery?
Hospitality have a crucial role for us, especially considering we were pioneer in this field when we founded the Movimento Turismo del Vino. First of all, hospitality means to let people know about us. Thus, when someone chooses to visit us, he or she also decides to spend a part of his or her precious time in knowing who we really are, and that is incredibly important for us.
So which are the three good reasons to get to know Monte delle Vigne better?
The first one is definitely our unique wines, they are born here and have sincere bond with this beautiful land, which is the second reason you should check us out. It is such a special place. The third reason is rediscovering the wine culture of the area, that for a long time had been overshadowed by the most famous food culture, until recent time when we realized we can combine both of them to give visitors a true life experience.
