A surprising white wine born in a land of great reds

On the ancient Romagna hills between Forlì, Castrocaro and Predappio, in a strategic position where the Rabbi and Montone valleys open out, around one of the watchtowers Caterina Sforza built in 1481 to defend her lands, lies a magical place that geologists who studied this particular hill named “la Palazza”. In this magnificent setting stands Drei Donà’s Tenuta La Palazza.

Can a lawyer tire of his job and start making wine? Oh yes, that’s exactly how it went. In 1980 Claudio Drei Donà gave up the law to devote himself full-time to the estate. Later joined by his son Enrico, he began a radical transformation that marked a decisive turning point for the property and its wines, which today are without doubt an expression of quality winemaking in Romagna. We’re in the Predappio subzone, so I’m sure you’re expecting a great red wine. Not so fast.

This week I want to introduce a great Romagna white: a lovely, indulgent wine that, if you don’t know it yet, will surely become a good habit at your table. Sadifruttirossi wants to tell you about “Tornese”, the Drei Donà house white — simply “Vino Bianco” on the label, yet the highest expression of quality Tenuta La Palazza can offer.

But let’s dig a little deeper and think it through together. We’re in the Predappio subzone, a land whose finest expression is found in its reds. On the hill of Tenuta La Palazza something extremely interesting happens — strange, I’d almost say magical: a few metres underground, the rock and the many water tables let Chardonnay and Riesling ripen harmoniously, helped by south–south-east sun and big summer temperature swings of over 20 degrees. It is thanks to these soil and climate conditions that our excellent Romagna white is born.

Today Tornese is a cuvée of Chardonnay and Riesling, the result of Enrico Drei Donà’s intuition and work on a wine created in the 1980s from the avant-garde vision of his father Claudio, who planted the first Chardonnay vineyards at Tenuta La Palazza. Back then it was a pure Chardonnay with long ageing in barrique.

First stop — Sadifruttirossi explains: the term cuvée refers to a wine made by blending wines, sometimes even from different vintages. In this case the estate creates a perfect mix of 50% Chardonnay and 50% Riesling.

In the early 2000s his son Enrico, who had already been working alongside his father for many years, began working on making Tornese a wine “for everyone”: more drinkable, lighter, modern. Enrico started experimenting with grapes from the estate’s Riesling Renano vineyard. It was a brilliant intuition: these two grapes are rarely combined successfully.

This unusual pairing shows in a taste with an enveloping, complex soul thanks to Chardonnay, which then gives way to the freshness and minerality of Riesling Renano. Tornese immediately won over those who tasted it and, in my view, established itself as a wine to enjoy in company. We can call it a surprising white wine born in a land of great reds. It is made traditionally, all about cool temperatures, in steel to preserve the fresh fruit, with a tiny 10% of Chardonnay alone aged in barrique. For a few years now Ida Vittoria, Claudio Drei Donà’s daughter, has gone back to making Chardonnay the way her father did at the start: 100% Chardonnay, fermented and aged in wood. Its name? Il Tornese – Le Origini.

Il Tornese – Le Origini is an elegant wine with remarkable structure, straw yellow in colour. Beautiful. The nose is very pleasant, with a splendid mix of the tropical and exotic fruit typical of Chardonnay, alternating with the mineral notes typical of Riesling: ginger, cardamom, apricot, apple and hints of vanilla.

Second stop — Sadifruttirossi explains: hints of vanilla? Incredible but true, time in cask usually gives a wine a lovely vanilla note. Personally I like it a lot when it’s well managed during winemaking, for a balanced, pleasant result — and here we are at perfection. Great length on the palate. In the mouth it has excellent structure, with mouth-watering freshness and acidity (I refer you to the first Sadifruttirossi article, where we talked a little about acidity in wine).

A word too for the estate’s stables, which reflect the Drei Donà family’s lifelong passion for horses — the passion behind the names of their wines.

Today’s pairing? Let’s buy our guests a great bottle of Tornese – Le Origini 2022 (100% Chardonnay) and get cooking (or shall we head to the rotisserie?). Excellent with fish, such as grills: a grilled John Dory. I often drink it with fried fish and it’s a hit. (I beg you… but in the end it’s your call: no lemon on fried food, thank you!) Given its long finish, please pair it with a dish of equal persistence. Try it with rabbit stew in a white ragù. Want a first course? Dry passatelli with spider crab. Ready? Let’s drink.