If you want to understand the future of Italian wine, you have to look at Chiara Condello. She is the face of the new generation in Romagna, a region that is finally stepping out of Tuscany’s shadow to claim its rightful place on the world stage. Chiara works in Predappio, a village that is historically significant for two reasons: it is the birthplace of Mussolini (a heavy shadow the region is moving past), but more importantly, it is considered the true genetic birthplace of the Sangiovese grape. Chiara’s philosophy is one of "less is more." working organically and using gravity-fed winemaking to let the land speak. And what land it is! Her vineyards are defined by Spungone, a unique, porous marine sandstone rich in prehistoric shells. This soil is the Holy Grail for Sangiovese in Romagna, acting like a sponge for water and minerals. Unlike the clay-heavy soils of Chianti which often produce broader wines, Spungone creates Sangiovese that is nervous, vertical, and intensely mineral. This is not a "fruit bomb"; it is a liquid translation of a specific hillside in the Apennines. It’s a wine that proves Sangiovese is not just a Tuscan trademark, but a Romagnolo heritage.
2020 Chiara Condello Romagna Sangiovese Predappio
Chiara Condello is a rising star of Emilia-Romagna and the face of a new generation in a region stepping out of Tuscany’s shadow. She works in Predappio, focused entirely on raising the reputation of Romagna Sangiovese from that subzone.
Her philosophy is “less is more”: organic farming, gravity-fed winemaking, native-yeast fermentations, extended macerations and ageing in large, neutral Slavonian oak. The vineyards are rooted in spungone, a porous ancient marine soil full of fossilised shells that acts like a sponge for water and minerals. Unlike the clay-heavy soils that often give broader wines elsewhere, it produces Sangiovese that is nervous, vertical and intensely mineral.
The Romagna Sangiovese Predappio is a liquid translation of a specific Apennine hillside rather than a fruit bomb, a precise, floral and deeply mineral wine that sheds the region’s rustic reputation and shows that Sangiovese is a Romagnolo heritage as much as a Tuscan one.