This month we are our  covering the region of Emilia Romagna centrally located in northern Italy. This region is full of gastronomic pleasures especially known for prosciutto di parma, parmigiano reggiano and the authentic balsamic vinegar of Modena. I traveled there for my honeymoon some years back and there was plenty to indulge in.

When it comes to wine, Emilia Romagna is probably best known by the average wine consumer for lambrusco, but of course like every region of Italy there is so much more, especially the indigenous grapes of a particular region, like pignoletto and sangiovese.  Today we're adding to that list with the romagna albana grape. 

The grape's name stems from the latin word, alba, meaning white since this is a white grape. It's in the same family as the garganega grape most commonly found in the Veneto and that is used to make up the wines of soave. Albana di Romagna was actually the first white wine in the area receiving DOCG status when it was established in 1987.

You can find romagna albana mostly produced in the provinces of Ravenna, Bologna and Forli-Cesena. I've been to two of 3 of these towns excluding Forli-Cesena, but boy do I wish I loved wine back then. There is so much I could've explored trying wines all over Italy.

The clusters of grapes of romagna albana are distinct long narrow bunches of grapes of beautiful yellow color. 

It's most known for it's passito style where the grapes are dried for a short period of time, concentrating the flavors in the grapes and the wines they produce. They are then aged at least 10 months exuding strong floral aromatics and intense flavors of apricots, honey along with some spice. You can also find amabile, dry and dolce versions of this grape. There are sparkling wines made from romagna albana known as Romagna Albana Spumante, but they can only be labeled under the DOC designation.