Azienda Agricola Gaggioli Maria Letizia

The winery is located in the municipality of Zola Predosa 11 km west of Bologna in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. In the Middle Ages the land belonged to the noble family Canossa and was farmed by Cistercian monks of the Abbey of Nonantola. The farm was founded in 1969 and today it is owned by Carlo and Maria Letizia Gaggioli. The vineyards cover 11 hectares. They are planted with the white wine varieties Pignoletto (Grechetto Gentile), Pinot Bianco(Pinot Blanc) and Sauvignon Blanc, and the red wine varieties Barbera, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. The cultivation is carried out according to regional rules of integrated plant protection. The grape harvest is always done by hand.

After temperature-controlled fermentation, the wines are aged in stainless steel tanks, large wooden barrels (10 to 15 hl) or barriques, depending on the type. Due to the use of nitrogen, only a small amount of sulphur is required for vinification. A tangential flow filtration is carried out before bottling. The product range includes various DOC/DOCG wines Colli Bolognesi, Colli Bolognesi Pignoletto and Pignoletto. The premium wines are "Benessum Colli Bolognesi Rosso Bologna Riserva" (30 months in oak barrels and barriques), "Magnificat Colli Bolognesi Bianco Bologna" (chilled fermentation in stainless steel, 24 months in oak barrels) and "Fermo Colli Bolognesi Pignoletto Superiore" (selected Grechetto Gentile grapes from the older part of the vineyard, 10 months in stainless steel on the fine lees at 10°C). About 120,000 bottles of wine are produced annually, 30% of which are exported mainly to Germany, Switzerland and China. The winery is a member of Consorzio Vini Colli Bolognesi.