– Biodynamic:

Biodynamics aims to strengthen the plants vitality and resistance, allowing to improve the natural exchange
between the sun and the grapes on one hand, and between the sky and the plants on the other. This aspect
is encouraged by the use of specific preparations and the observation of lunar phases.
Biodynamic viticulture aims to intensify the organic life of the vineyard ecosystem. Each territory,
therefore, manages to best express its characteristics, thanks to the ampelographic and balance
parameters. Biodynamics allows life-giving energy flows by following natural cycles and minimizing human
intervention, who has the sole task of monitoring the right course of the vineyard, to obtain rich fruit.

 

– Old vineyards

“Wine is like poetry, which is best appreciated and really understood, only when one person studies the
poet’s life, his work, his character, when he or she becomes familiar with the environment where the poet
was born, with his upbringing and his world. The nobility of wine is just this: it is never a detached and
abstract object, which can be judged by drinking a glass, or two or three, from a bottle that comes from a
place where we have never been to. ” (M. Soldati)
Over the years, our interest has increasingly turned to rediscovering forgotten corners of our land and we
have brought back to life old vineyards – often at the foot of ancient abbeys and churches, to witness the
life that once took place here – replanting vineyards but always respecting the indigenous tradition with the
aim of redeeming the Gulf of Tigullio which has always been mistreated.

Vermentino e Bianchetta, historical grapes vinified in purity, are located among the 6 vineyards currently
active: in Tolceto, in San Salvatore di Cogorno at the foot of the splendid Basilica dei Fieschi, arranged in a
fan shape, where Vermentino dominates, in Verici (kingdom of Bianchetta) and another plot towards
Vignolo (in the municipality of Mezzanego)

“The peels are my yeasts

Time is my clarifier

The lees are my sulphites

Terracotta is my wood and

The vineyard is my cellar.

(D. Parma) ”

 

Spread over almost 5 hectares of land, divided into 6 vineyards plucked from oblivion with the intent of a
cultural revaluation of its area, La Ricolla company tells a story that has its roots in ancient times.
Passion and respect are the values all the production is based on, from work in the vineyard, an essential
element that allows us to bring grapes to the cellar that continue their transformation cycle into wine in a
vital way, without a massive human intervention, but only following time, a faithful supporter of the past
and the future.
And in the words of Mario Soldati: “More than the grapes blending, what matters is the soil, the vinification
method, and, above all, since we are talking about artisanal wines, the personality, the psychology of the
winemaker. Those who make wine out of passion almost always unleash their intimate, individual and
unique nature in the wine”.

 

– THE CELLAR

The study of history has allowed me to recover ancestral gestures, which modern technology had put aside,
but which, on the contrary, are a resource that enables me to complete my natural philosophy of
maximizing the grapes enhancement.
The selection during the harvest allows me to support a fully natural vinification cycle, with important
macerations, natural clarifications – as in the past, without adding sulphites or other preservative agents,
thanks to the time factor which, together with long steel and amphora aging, enables me to obtain intense
and long-lived wines in oxidation

– Liguria

The Tigullio area, in the province of Genoa, is set between Golfo Paradiso and  val Bisagno to the west, la val Trebbia e la val d’Aveto to the north, la val di Vara and Baie del Levante area to the east.

From the historical-artistic point of view, it is very important for the beautiful coastal towns, but in the
inland areas, places rich in history are nestled among the steep hills, with villages that still keep customs
and traditions alive, far from the contemporaneity. At present, agriculture is trying to find space again, and
due to its geographical conformation, it is a difficult, heroic agriculture, with crops that do not allow the use
of technology, and where the olive tree and the vine are regaining dignity and prestige thanks to the care
and passion of enthusiastic and enlightened people who want to give new liveliness to their land.

– Macro vineyards

This part of Liguria is naturally suited to the cultivation of the Genoese Bianchetta, a white grape variety
typical of the Ligurian Levante with an early ripening, which prefers cool climates in a hilly position with
good exposure and air.
In addition to Vermentino, the great flag of the whole region, we can find Sangiovese vineyards as well,
very difficult to cultivate in these territories, together with Ciliegiolo.
A separate mention deserves the Cimixà, a white grape variety of ancient origins and with a dialectal name
– from “cimiciato”, which means dotted, for the small marks on the grape, similar to those left by the bugs
(simixa) on fruits – which has recently been recovered by various local winemakers. A vine that is difficult to
cultivate, rather nervous and difficult to manage, but with a potential yet to be explored, due to its
excellent ageing capacity and the vigour of the wines structure it gives.