NETTARE DEI SANTI
OUR HISTORY
The winemaking history of the Riccardi family dates back to the end of the 1800s, when the grapes grown in the owned vineyards were vinified in the old vat cellar of the San Rocco oratory in San Colombano.
At that time, the wine obtained was used for one’s own use or bartered for other consumer goods.
At the end of the 40s Franco Riccardi, after leaving the sport that had brought him to Olympic glory with 4 gold medals in sword competitions, decided to transform what so far was a family passion into an entrepreneurial activity , giving a new image to the product obtained, bottling it and making it known
on Milanese tables.
Later he also invented the name and the brand that still identifies the company inspired by the lines of a poem by Francesco Redi which reads as follows:
Io sono il vino che dall'ameno colle del vecchio Mombrione ebbe i natali. Con l'oro del sol ch'entro mi bolle dei sogni in dolci voli, allargo l'ali. Mi esaltano i poeti nei lor canti definendomi Nettare dei Santi.
We arrived so at the beginning of the 50s, when the first labels of the “Nettare dei Santi” were printed, a simple and drinkable red wine that reflected the typicality of the territory. The Hills of San Colombano, laden with history and tradition, needed producers who, having taken cognizance of them, would render them nobility and importance, bringing to the tables, especially of the Milanese and Lodi people, wines of exuberant freshness and fragrance and intense aroma.
At the end of the 60s, after the death of his father, his son Enrico took over the family business and created two important wines that still symbolize the company: Verdea, Tonsa and Roverone.
In 1980 Enrico Riccardi moved the winery from the center of the village to the top of the hill among the owned vineyards, becoming one of the most fascinating wineries of San Colombano and together with his wife Giovanna gave great impetus to the activity by investing all the energy in the care of the vineyards and in the refinement of the image.
Today his son Gianenrico, with the same passion and entrepreneurial dynamism, gives continuity to the wine history of the family by making in vineyards, even before in casks, quality products, in absolute respect of the environment and with the focus on quality and innovation.
The winemaking history of the Riccardi family dates back to the end of the 1800s, when the grapes grown in the owned vineyards were vinified in the old vat cellar of the San Rocco oratory in San Colombano.
At that time, the wine obtained was used for one’s own use or bartered for other consumer goods.
At the end of the 40s Franco Riccardi, after leaving the sport that had brought him to Olympic glory with 4 gold medals in sword competitions, decided to transform what so far was a family passion into an entrepreneurial activity , giving a new image to the product obtained, bottling it and making it known
on Milanese tables.
Later he also invented the name and the brand that still identifies the company inspired by the lines of a poem by Francesco Redi which reads as follows:
Io sono il vino che dall'ameno colle del vecchio Mombrione ebbe i natali. Con l'oro del sol ch'entro mi bolle dei sogni in dolci voli, allargo l'ali. Mi esaltano i poeti nei lor canti definendomi Nettare dei Santi.
We arrived so at the beginning of the 50s, when the first labels of the “Nettare dei Santi” were printed, a simple and drinkable red wine that reflected the typicality of the territory. The Hills of San Colombano, laden with history and tradition, needed producers who, having taken cognizance of them, would render them nobility and importance, bringing to the tables, especially of the Milanese and Lodi people, wines of exuberant freshness and fragrance and intense aroma.
At the end of the 60s, after the death of his father, his son Enrico took over the family business and created two important wines that still symbolize the company: Verdea, Tonsa and Roverone.
In 1980 Enrico Riccardi moved the winery from the center of the village to the top of the hill among the owned vineyards, becoming one of the most fascinating wineries of San Colombano and together with his wife Giovanna gave great impetus to the activity by investing all the energy in the care of the vineyards and in the refinement of the image.
Today his son Gianenrico, with the same passion and entrepreneurial dynamism, gives continuity to the wine history of the family by making in vineyards, even before in casks, quality products, in absolute respect of the environment and with the focus on quality and innovation.
"Quality wine born in the vineyard"
With this philosophy, the company’s 30 hectares of vineyards have been planted and managed, knowing the soil, the microclimate and the needs of our vines.
Little expanded breeding system, “the guyot”, high density, 4-5 thousand hectare vines, agronomic practices with little fertilization and grassing, disease control with targeted interventions, all to bring healthy and well-ripe grapes to the cellar wisely chosen with a hand harvest.
The processing of our grapes comes from a careful selection in the vineyard, from a knowledge of our vines, from a transformation with simple rules based on respect and exaltation of the raw material, “our grapes”to produce wines that can express and exalt the bond of the vine territory and that have that uniqueness that comes from the passion of man, helped by equipment and technologies that serve to move the qualities present in grapes and musts to the right degree of maturation, in the future wine.
The cold” regarding the processing of white grapes, cryomaceration, fermentation at controlled temperature, “targeted pumping over” to the processing of red grapes, “tastings and tastings” of our staff (oenologist, responsible for quality control and winemakers) to understand the transformations and evolution of our wines, are the wine making practices used in the cellar to get the best from our grapes.
"Quality wine born in the vineyard"
With this philosophy, the company’s 30 hectares of vineyards have been planted and managed, knowing the soil, the microclimate and the needs of our vines.
Little expanded breeding system, “the guyot”, high density, 4-5 thousand hectare vines, agronomic practices with little fertilization and grassing, disease control with targeted interventions, all to bring healthy and well-ripe grapes to the cellar wisely chosen with a hand harvest.
The processing of our grapes comes from a careful selection in the vineyard, from a knowledge of our vines, from a transformation with simple rules based on respect and exaltation of the raw material, “our grapes”to produce wines that can express and exalt the bond of the vine territory and that have that uniqueness that comes from the passion of man, helped by equipment and technologies that serve to move the qualities present in grapes and musts to the right degree of maturation, in the future wine.
The cold” regarding the processing of white grapes, cryomaceration, fermentation at controlled temperature, “targeted pumping over” to the processing of red grapes, “tastings and tastings” of our staff (oenologist, responsible for quality control and winemakers) to understand the transformations and evolution of our wines, are the wine making practices used in the cellar to get the best from our grapes.
The hill and the territory
This faithful and targeted description was written by an immortal poet, Francesco Petrarca, in a letter sent on 21 October 1353 to Guido, Archbishop of Genoa.
From it transpire characteristic visions that make right image of the hill, although greatly changed by the passage of time.
The hills of San Colombano appear as an isolated protuberance, in the middle of the Po Valley, south of the great Milan, between the Lodi Plain and the Bassa Pavese; it is in fact about 40 km from Milan, 30 from Pavia and 15 from Lodi.
It has always been a small wine area.
A popular legend, links the beginning of viticulture to the passage of the Irish friar Colombano and his followers, who in the early sixth century, christianized the residents of the hills and taught them the cultivation of vines.
Historical references speak of a quality wine that comes from the laborious relationship between the professionalism of man and the divine vocation of the territory, awarded in 1984 with the recognition of the area of designation of origin, which takes its name from the Irish Saint, the founder of this fascinating history of men and territory, whose stylized image has become the trademark of the DOP Colombano wine.
The red grapes linked to the tradition of the hills contribute to produce this unique wine DOP: Barbera, Croatina and Uva Rara.
With the 1995 harvest, the hills of San Colombano became also a typical geographical indication area (IGT): “Collina del Milanese”. With this indication are proposed and enhanced especially single-grape wines: the typical Verdea, Riesling, Malvasia, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay; still, sparkling, young, fresh and fruity wines but also small batches aged in cask or small carats, excellent sparkling wine, charmat and classic method, typical wines, characteristic that deserve to be known and tasted and that contain the flavors and values of a small hilly territory.
A particular climate, rightly rainy in spring, warm and dry in summer and in the important period for the maturation and aging of the grapes, combined with a soil very suitable for the cultivation of the vine, thanks to its composition and location with gentle ups and downs, targeted choices between vines and rootstocks that best fit and are expressed in the various farms of the company located especially in the part with exposure to the south of the hill, allow to produce healthy and well-ripe grapes, a spectacle of nature at the time of harvest, from which you can only get important wines for every moment of the day, which meet the taste and openness of many fans of good drinking.
