Italiano
The recovery of the White of Coronata
Vineyards that lap the city of Genoa and, in some cases, are part of it. A producer, Andrea Bruzzone, passionate and stubborn. An ancient wine rooted in its territory, made from Bianchetta Genovese, Vermentino, Rollo and Bosco.
In the municipality of Genoa, there is a city Doc that represents a true local glory, although now produced by a small number of winemakers: the Coronata white. The town's only historic wine, a dry, light, saline white, has a very old tradition, recognized under the Val Polcevera Coronata appellation relatively recently, in 1998.
The vineyards are very parceled out along the valley of the Polcevera stream, which rises inland from the hill of Coronata, alternating between the city and the foothills of the Apennines. To say how limited production is, there are currently only three DOC members.
Andrea Bruzzone is among them: from a family tradition of merchants comes his passion for wine, which led him to become a producer. In 1991 in Bolzaneto, a Genoese neighborhood in the heart of the Polcevera Valley, he started his wine shop business, expanding its offerings to include not only local wines, including bulk, until it became a reference point for the city's oenophiles.
Soon, thanks to his passion and his rootedness with the tradition of the area, he associated the work of the wine shop with the recovery of the tradition of Bianchetta Genovese, starting its production. An indigenous grape variety (as well as a specific denomination, when in purity) that originated in San Cipriano in the neighboring municipality of Serra Riccò, Bianchetta Genovese along with Vermentino, and other grapes such as Bosco and Rollo, makes up Val Polcevera Coronata, a DOC related to a restricted area.
Harvesting grapes from a few growers, Andrea makes wine in the area from his most representative white, La Superba, along with other wines, such as a conspicuous classic method, Janua, formed from Bianchetta Genovese and Vermentino, as well as the production of liqueurs and infusions.
More recently, Andrea has added to his historic headquarters in the Bolzaneto district a sparkling wine aging cellar, made out of an old warehouse dating back to the 15th century in the picturesque Piazza di San Donato 51R, right in the historic center of Genoa: after a long restoration, it has become a bit of a winery, a bit of a show room and a museum of the area's wine culture, and for this reason, too, it is worth a visit.
