Al di là del Fiume (beyond the river) started in 2006 as the brainchild of husband and wife Danila Mongardi & Gabriele Monti.  Their farm is located in the area in front of the Monte Sole Regional Park in Marzabotto, just outside of Bologna, Emilia Romagna. They created a multifunctional biodynamic agricultural organism with productive, educational, recreational, artistic and therapeutic activities aimed at the wellbeing of people and the environment. The farm consists of three hectares of vineyards, one hectare of vegetable garden, half a hectare of ancient fruits, one hectare of ancient cereals and half a hectare of traditional medicinal plants. They run their 27 hectares of land as a cultural and spiritual escape, offering biodynamic farming classes, art tuition, cooking classes, a sanctuary for ideas and those wanting to slow down and reconnect with nature.

The first vineyard was planted to Barbera and Albana with newer plantings of Grechetto Gentile and Montuni yielding their first wines in 2016. It was imperative to use only native local varieties to best express their terrior. They work everything in the vineyard by hand with minimal use of machinery and modern technology. All of their wines are produced with natural vinification techniques. In the cellar they use traditional clay Amphora for most wines to enhance purity, depth of flavour and texture. All wines are made with no added sulphites and fermented with natural yeasts, just grapes allowed to express who they are.

The 2020 ‘Zirudela’ is a blend of Albana, Montuni and Grechetto Gentile carbonic macerated for 5 days in stainless steel before pressing back to tank. Textural and rich and super lifted this is a joyful example of textural white, a slight change in style from previous vintages but one we are really loving!