Why it matters
The producer
Fattoria Nicolucci sits on a clifftop spur in Predappio Alta, a small hilltop village in the Romagna hills roughly sixty kilometres south of Bologna. The family has farmed here since 1885, and Alessandro Nicolucci is the fourth generation to lead the estate. He is both owner and winemaker, working ten hectares of old-vine parcels on dry, mineral soils above a landscape of former sulphur quarries.
The estate's range is built on Sangiovese. Four Sangiovese-based reds form the core, from a lighter, accessible bottling to a single-vineyard flagship. Sparkling whites from Trebbiano and Pinot, and a sweet wine from Albana, complete the picture. Annual output reportedly runs from approximately 70,000 to 80,000 bottles across all wines.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Predappio Alta rises to 247 metres on a rock spur above the Romagna hills. The elevation brings cooler nights and stronger diurnal shifts than the plains below, and the position on a clifftop narrows the cultivable area and concentrates the old-vine parcels on exposed, wind-dried slopes. Sangiovese here labels as Romagna Sangiovese DOC, the appellation that covers the grape across this stretch of Emilia-Romagna. At Predappio Alta, that designation carries an older local connection than almost anywhere else in the region.
The village has documentary evidence of Sangiovese cultivation dating to 1383, when its town statutes prescribed exactly how the grape should be grown around the castle walls. The same hillside now produces estate wine carrying the Romagna Sangiovese DOC label, with the Nicolucci family's history on the site reaching back 140 years within that much longer arc.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The ten hectares at Predappio Alta are planted mainly to Sangiovese, with smaller proportions of Trebbiano, Pinot and Albana. Vine age varies significantly across the parcels, from twenty-year-old plants to ninety-year-old stumps that rank among the oldest in the area. Older vines produce smaller crops of more concentrated fruit, a factor that feeds directly into the top-tier wines.
For Vigna del Generale, fermentation runs for 35 days using indigenous yeasts in small wooden vessels. That extended maceration draws more tannin and colour from the skins, and the indigenous yeast population contributes complexity that a selected commercial strain would not. For Tre Rocche, the wine matures for six months in large oak before additional bottle ageing. Large oak at this duration imparts minimal flavour but allows a slow, controlled micro-oxidation that rounds the lighter tannins in the fruit without adding oak character to the glass.
Wines to know
The range in view
The four Sangiovese-based reds move from early-drinking to cellar-ready. Tre Rocche, made entirely from large, oval-berried Sangiovese, sits at the approachable end: lighter body, lively acidity, a clean fruit-and-spice finish, and tannin that does not demand time. Vigna del Generale is the single-vineyard wine, fermented long and slow, with polished tannins built for development and an aftertaste that lingers well past the first impression.
Beyond the reds, Grigio d'Appio Bianco Frizzante is a lightly sparkling white from Trebbiano and Pinot. Grigio Brut Spumante is a sparkling wine from the same varieties. The Albana sweet wine completes the range, though its precise style remains unconfirmed.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with Tre Rocche, the Romagna Sangiovese DOC Superiore. It is made entirely from the large, oval-berried Sangiovese parcels on the estate, matured for six months in large oak and given additional bottle ageing before release. In the glass it is light, fresh and direct: lively acidity, minimal tannin, a clean fruit-and-spice finish with no oak overlay. Tre Rocche has lively acidity, light tannin and a clean fruit-and-spice finish. Once you have tasted it, Vigna del Generale makes sense as a deliberate step up in weight, fermentation time and ambition.