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Writer's pictureFilippo Manaresi

Meet the producer: Ca' del Genio


A wine tasting under a summer storm.

All together passionately under the Bolognese sky, where the work of man meets nature.

This is one of the smallest and most particular producers I have ever met so far, which fills me with excitement.

After more than 20 years of experience as a wine consultant, Lorenzo came back to Bologna (on the Osservanza hill) and, finally, he started cultivating his own land. Over the years he recovered several abandoned vineyards and today manages a farm that produces only autochthonous products, mainly wine and violet artichokes of San Luca.

His approach is based on the respect for the territory, on collaboration and on continuous improvement without necessarily producing more.

The Bolognese hills are the place where today he cultivates about 4 hectares of land with vineyards, artichokes (only the Violetto di San Luca variety) and wheat of the oldest varieties (Gentil Rosso, Autonomia A+B and Solina).

Between the park of Villa Ghigi, Colle dell'Osservanza and via Golfreda, old vineyards with mixed varieties were recovered. In fact, his wine Bianco dell'Osservanza is composed by a bunch of varieties: Pignoletto, Trebbiano, Albana, Chasselas, Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Malvasia, Angela, Paradisa.

The harvest takes place in the same day and all the varieties are crushed together. No filtration, spontaneous fermentation, very low use of sulphites.

History, culture, tradition, climate, soil, and co-plantation define the territoriality of this remarkably interesting wine; not the characteristics of the individual varieties but the result of a "team effort". And the work orchestrated by Lorenzo Maini is more than successful, offering us a sunny, joyful, solid wine. Bitter orange in the glass, white fruit in alcohol, medicinal plants, amber and ginger. Walks in the Villa Ghigi park, the crisp air of the hills outside the city, sips, and emotions.

During the visit, I had the chance to taste two different vintages of the wine produced by Lorenzo:

  • Bianco dell'Osservanza 2021: slight refermentation, acidic, a wine that tastes like ancient traditions.

  • Bianco dell'Osservanza 2019: nice refermentation, which enhances the freshness of the wine and makes it definitely enjoyable and perfect for a hot and rainy summer day.

The wine estate is a beautiful B&B open to visitors and guests, for more info and reservations:

Via del Genio, 26, 40136 Bologna











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