It is the absolute exclusive white vine par excellence of Romagna. Albana, the first Italian DOCG of a 1987 white wine, will be the protagonist of the two days of " Vino al Vino " scheduled in Bertinoro on Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 October . The container promoted by the Municipality of Bertinoro is unique, two events hosted in the historic center of the hospitality town: the fifth edition of the Master Romagna Albana Docg of Ais Romagna and the itinerant event Albana Dèi of the Consorzio Vini di Romagna.
All with an absolute protagonist: Albana , increasingly in the Olympus of the great whites of Italy, thanks to the precious work of many producers who believe in this " red disguised as white ", according to the happy definition of a critic. Epicenter of a real renaissance in Romagna, Albana has imposed itself on consumers and critics thanks to its versatility in the dry, passito and sparkling versions, up to the last frontier of maceration in amphora, abandoning the old sweet wine scheme of at the end of the meal.
A change of course recognized by national guides as in the case of the prestigious Tre Bicchieri del Gambero Rosso 2022 assigned for the second year in a row to two dry Albana (this year in Celli di Bertinoro and Monticino Rosso di Imola). The last edition of the Ais guide " Emilia Romagna to drink and to eat " 2021/2022 did the same, which assigned almost a third of the "excellent" wines (maximum score) to Albana: out of 55 top wines, 16 are Albana in the different types.
The Master Romagna Albana
Now in its fifth edition, it compares 17 sommeliers tasters from seven different territories (Puglia, Campania, Tuscany, Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia and Romagna) as evidence of how Albana is increasingly transversal to different regions of Italy. The event will be anticipated on Saturday 2 October in the afternoon in the Historical Reserve by a tasting of Albana together with the participants in the Master, while in the evening at 19.30 in the Rocca there will be a themed dinner with the significant title " Waiting for the Master " by Ais Romagna in collaboration with the Artusi Hotel Institute of Forlimpopoli (info: 0547 415249 - info@aisromagna.it tel. 3337148500).
On Sunday 3 October the Master is staged, open in the morning to the selection tests behind closed doors in the hall of the Historical Reserve, from which the 4 finalists in the competition spring in front of the public at 15.30 in the Church of San Silvestro. The afternoon event with the finalists grappling with blind tastings, presentation in front of hypothetical customers, food pairings, stories about old bottles, insidious questions from the jury.
To decide the winner, evaluating the skills of tasting, communication and storytelling, competence, study and knowledge of wines, managerial and managerial skills of the competitors, will be a jury of experts, composed of representatives of the national and Romagna sommellerie and of the Consorzio Vini di Romagna . The winner of the previous edition of the Master, the South Tyrolean Andrè Senoner, is also part of it by right. The winner goes to 2 thousand euros offered by the Consorzio Vini di Romagna.
A further Jury made up of producers will determine a Special Prize for the Best Communicating Sommelier of Romagna Albana Docg chosen from among the four finalists.
Albana Dèi
As in 2020, postponed by a few months compared to the usual period (May-June), the ninth edition of the Albana Dèi wine selection will take place in October, from an idea by Carlo Catani and Andrea Spada , promoted and coordinated by the Consorzio Vini of Romagna . Being able to count on a "hard core" of producers who have never stopped believing in it and who successfully market overseas, the first white DOCG of Italy to be recognized must continue to establish itself with the strength of which it is capable and for the experiences that "il giro delle Albane" is able to guarantee to lovers. A traveling event that will touch some of the most beautiful villages in Romagna, starting right from Bertinoro on October 3 ( at 5 pm Piazza della Libertà the vote of the popular jury), then to follow Castrocaro Terme, Mercato Saraceno, Oriolo dei Fichi (Faenza), Brisighella and Dozza (calendar to be defined). As in last year's edition, the direct involvement of restaurants is replicated, being the food-wine combination an essential combination for the enhancement of our excellences. The Albane finalists of the competition will therefore also be inside the restaurants that will join the initiative, with the customers of the premises called to express their preferences in a beautiful food and wine game, which will be added to the judgments collected by the public in the squares in view of the ranking the final. Furthermore , on Saturday 2 October at 6 pm , on the terrace of the Enoteca Cà de Bè in Bertinoro, there will be a round table open to the public entitled: "Albana Day! It's Albana's time" , chat with some well-known wine journalists on market trends and the ways of consolidating this Romagna uniqueness.
L'Albana, prima donna of Romagna
The first white wine in Italy to have obtained the DOCG, it was in 1987, to make it inimitable is its territorial identity: the Albana vines grow in an area of 818 hectares, from the hills of Cesenate to those south of Bologna . About a hundred producing wineries, which each year dismiss approximately 756,400 bottles for 5,673 hectoliters (data 2020 Consorzio Vini di Romagna). Albana is at the center of a real rebirth in recent years, just think that in 2017 the bottles produced were 578,933. In just three years, therefore, the growth was 177 thousand bottles (30%).
In this context, the production of the Bertinoro hills occupies a special place, for which the presence of the Spungone, the rock that emerged from a prehistoric coral reef, plays a decisive role. The Spungone forces the roots of the vines to penetrate deeply, clinging to the rocks of the subsoil, thus giving the wines characteristics of great value.
Info.
Vino al Vino is organized by the Municipality of Bertinoro (Tourism Department), together with Ais Romagna and the Consorzio Vini di Romagna.
During the two days there will be a free shuttle service from the parking lots in via Allende and via Badia. Saturday 2nd October from 4pm to midnight. Sunday 3rd October from 3pm to 7pm.
