Noelia Ricci

TUSCANY, ITALY

Noelia Ricci is a project started in 2010 within Pandolfa, an estate rich in history and stretching over an area of 140 hectares at the foot of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, just a few kilometers away from Predappio.

From 1626 to 1941 the estate was owned by Marchesi Albicini. In 1941 the property was taken over by Commendator Giuseppe Ricci, an entrepreneur from Forlì. In the years of World War Two, Pandolfa’s happy times came to an abrupt end, going from the Marchesi’s holiday home to the tragic events of the war period.

The estate was occupied by the Germans and then attacked by the Polish army, while its cellars were opened to give shelter to refugees. In the fifties, after peace was finally restored, Giuseppe Ricci undertook extensive renovation works on the estate, encouraging the involvement of famous local artists, who created works of art honoring the land’s heritage and history. Ricci also focused on the estate’s agricultural production, very important in the past, he bought two adjoining farms and, after years during which he totally modified the land’s orography, he planted the first vines of Sangiovese, Trebbiano and Albana grapes.

Upon Ricci’s death in 1980, his daughter Noelia, after whom the whole project was named, was the first to realize the potential of these hills and, guided by her vision, she started planting new vineyards and building a winery.

Pandolfa is now owned by Noelia’s grand-daughter, Paola Piscopo, who used all her enthusiasm to restore the estate to the role it deserves in the area.

Today, one of her children, Marco Cirese, a fourth-generation member of the family, has picked up the threads of this story, with the intention of transforming the winery in a place of excellence, weaving together the family’s history and that of the land and engaging in an ongoing dialogue with local traditions and native grape varieties. (taken from Noelia Ricci website)