Ravenna

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• The Ravenna territory presents a geological sequence that descends from the highest ridges, beginning with the Marnoso-arenacea formation and continuing through the late Miocene deposits known as the Vena del gesso.
• Beyond the Vena del gesso lies a band of blue-grey clays, within which the Spungone formation is found, followed by yellow sands and then the plain.
• The plain is formed by an ancient alluvium of continental origin comprising coarse materials such as cobbles and gravels, covered by a more recent alluvium of sand, silt, and clay that constitutes the fertile, cultivable topsoil.
• The vineyard soils of the Ravenna area are most often clayey or clay-loam-silty in texture, with a good endowment of calcium carbonate, slightly alkaline in reaction, and generally free of significant drainage problems.
• The Winkler bioclimatic index varies from hill to plain: the coastal area records approximately 2,000–2,200 degree-days, the plain 1,800–2,000 degree-days, and the hillsides up to 1,600 degree-days, providing an empirical guide for selecting late-ripening varieties in the mid-to-low-lying zones and early-ripening or aromatic varieties in the cooler areas.

• Strabo attests, in the first century BC, to vine cultivation in the marshy zones around Ravenna, noting that the vines grew rapidly there yet died out after four or five years.
• The strong presence of sharecropping (mezzadria) structured the territory into small farmsteads with rows of vines trained up fruit or timber trees, a system known as Piantate or Alberate.

• Ravenna white wines display colours ranging from straw-yellow to golden yellow, with yellow-on-yellow or greenish highlights, delicate floral aromas, and fruity notes that vary according to the grape variety.
• Ravenna passito wines have a more or less intense ruby-red colour, more or less ripe fruity notes sometimes accompanied by floral and/or spiced scents, and a palate ranging from dry to sweet with good structure and well-balanced acidity.

• The drying (appassimento) of the grapes for the passito style is favoured by the diurnal temperature range recorded during the late-summer and autumn period, and by the ventilation characteristic of the production zone.
• The temperate, well-ventilated climate, the free-draining soils with adequate water availability, and the day-to-night temperature variation together ensure optimal ripening of the grape clusters for the sparkling and semi-sparkling wine styles.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• Specification (EUR-Lex, single document)
• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PGI-IT-A0523
• Official trade body site — Consorzio Vini di Romagna