Fattoria Paradiso

Fattoria Paradiso has been making wine in Bertinoro, on the first hills of the Romagna Apennines between Forlì and Cesena, since 1853. In that year Costantino Pezzi bought the Villa Castello Ugarte Lovatelli, birthplace of the painter Marco Palmezzano, with part of the surrounding land. In 1950 Mario and Rina Pezzi named the house Fattoria Paradiso and began making wine from their own grapes. Mario rediscovered Barbarossa, a forgotten local grape, and helped revive Pagadebit and Cagnina. Today the estate is run by Graziella Pezzi and her son Jacopo.

The 53 hectares surround the historic Villa and its Lovatelli Park. In 1973 Mario Pezzi and Luigi Veronelli, the father of Italian wine criticism and a friend of the house, identified ten crus on the estate. Each vineyard has its own soil and its own voice: the fossil-rich spungone rock of Vigna Spungone, the blue clay of Vigna Dosso, the dark marl of Rotonda, the yellow sands of Pavone. Each plot is farmed separately. The family calls this "the art of revealing terroirs".

Visits begin in the Villa and continue through the park, where about thirty peacocks roam among old trees, then the historic vineyards, the cellar and the wine museum. The cellar also keeps an archive of old vintages. Over the years the estate has welcomed writers, artists and statesmen, and today it opens its doors to everyone in the same spirit: wine is never drunk alone, it creates a bond that lasts.

The wines of Fattoria Paradiso are divided into two lines.

The Icone are the most ambitious wines. Alba, Hemera and Vesper are Albana in the three lights of the day, each from a single vineyard: Alba from Vigna Quercia is tense and aromatic, Hemera from Vigna Pavone is dense and structured with sweet spice from noble rot, and Vesper from Vigna Viale is sweet, with apricot and acacia honey. Orbite is a Sangiovese Superiore Riserva from Vigna Molino, replanted with a massal selection of the old Vigna delle Lepri vines, aged about three years. Mito is a Sangiovese Grosso Riserva from Vigna Rotonda, aged about ten years in large Slavonian oak casks, cocciopesto and bottle. Barbarossa Vigna Dosso is the cru expression of Barbarossa, a rare local grape found almost only here: fine, juicy and mineral, with notes of sour cherry and wild blackberry.

The Storici have told the estate's story for decades and remain faithful to tradition. They include Tacco, a Bombino Bianco with a brief skin maceration; the dry Albana Secco Vigna Olivo; the aromatic I Mezzi; the everyday Sangiovese Petìtrufì; Vigna Molino; Vigna delle Lepri, the first Sangiovese Riserva of Romagna in 1970; Barbarossa Vigna Spungone; the sweet red Cagnina; and the sweet whites Contessina and Muffato Gradisca from Vigna Viale.