In the Marche region, in the center of the Metauro valley, which runs inland from its native Fano, we come to Fossombrone. Massimo Berloni, in addition to being mayor of the city and a successful entrepreneur in the field of fashion, created this beautiful reality: Collina delle Fate.
On a gentle hill near Fossombrone, in the Marche region, stands a small church with adjoining guesthouse, right in front of the Furlo Gorge, while further down, carved out of the heart of the hill, are
the wine house and restaurant
. All very neat and beautiful. Massimo Berloni has five daughters, the Fairies, who in various capacities are involved in every aspect of the multifaceted activities of the company: in the guesthouse there are four beautiful and very quiet rooms equipped with every comfort, the restaurant, oil production and, of course, wine production.
A couple of months ago I was invited by Dante Bonacina, the company’s newly appointed CEO with decades of experience at Ca’ Del Bosco, to spend a couple of days at the winery so that I could try out its wine production. So this is an account of that visit and those tastings in the Marche region’s Fairy Hill.
There are two estate vineyards, the highest, at about 500 meters was obtained after hard work in grinding a thick layer of rock. The subsoil is loamy loam with important presence of limestone. In the vineyards, all Guyot, with 5,500 vines per hectare, you find practically only Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, but there is no shortage of a few rows of Sauvignon. Everything from organic farming.
The leading idea, brought forward by theoenologist Luciano Tranquillini, is the pressing quest for quality, to make wines with a strong international image and imprint. They were made large economic investments to equip the winemaking cellar with every useful piece of equipment to produce wine in an environment where cleanliness and accuracy of the various processing steps reign supreme. The supply of barrels of various sizes and various origins is also of remarkable quality. Total production is around 80,000 bottles.
The following are produced at the winery five wines: a classic method rosé from Pinot Noir, a white from Chardonnay with a small balance of Sauvignon, two pure Chardonnays and a red from Pinot Noir alone. The winery is still very young, and I especially liked the two pure Chardonnays. They are wines that need long years of bottle aging, enough to see fully expressive, good quality and pleasantness in the bottles up to 2016, which was a great vintage in the Marche region.
Let me also make a small note about the restaurant and on the olive oils business. The restaurant has a very elegant and bright room, thanks to the long glass wall that allows you to enjoy a beautiful view. In warm weather we eat outdoors and there is also a swimming pool if desired. The cuisine is based on local raw materials (cured meats, cheeses, farm animals), and the delicious vegetables that help make up each dish come from the farm garden, which is also organic.
The company’s delicious olive oils, from both monocultivar and blends, are processed in the farm mill, so that every stage of its processing can be followed closely. In short, if you feel like enjoying a few days of vacation in nature, beauty and goodness, you know where to go.
TO READ THE WINE DESCRIPTIONS, WITH SCORE AND AVERAGE SHELF PRICE, CLICK ON THE TABS BELOW.
TASTINGS
