The Pandolfa estate carries history in its stones. Named after the 15th-century condottiere Pandolfo Malatesta, immortalised in Piero della Francesca's portrait now at the Louvre, the property passed through centuries of noble ownership before the Ricci family purchased it in 1941. Today Marco Cirese steers a modern winery out of that layered past, making Sangiovese from Predappio's distinctive soils that aims at structure and elegance rather than the extraction that once defined Romagna reds.
Backstory
Giuseppe Ricci bought Pandolfa in 1941 and survived the wartime occupation, during which the property served as a refuge. In the 1950s he began planting Sangiovese, Trebbiano, and Albana. His daughter Noelia recognised the land's potential and oversaw the construction of a proper winery. The Noelia Ricci wine project was formally launched in 2010, with the first commercial vintage released in 2013 under the direction of Noelia's grandson Marco Cirese, now the fourth generation, who farms with his wife Alice. Organic conversion began in 2018 and certification was completed in 2021.
The Region
Pandolfa sits in Predappio, a subzone within the Romagna DOC in Emilia-Romagna, widely regarded as one of the finest terroirs for Sangiovese in the entire region. The town sits in the Valle del Rabbi, a tributary valley cutting into the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines, roughly 50 kilometres from the Adriatic coast. The combination of continental climate, high diurnal temperature variation, and maritime influence from the east creates ideal conditions for slow, even ripening.
Vineyards and Farming
Of Pandolfa's 140 hectares, 30 are planted to vines at elevations between 80 and 250 metres. Soils are primarily clay, ranging from grey-brown to ochre, with good structure and drainage. The core 9 hectares of the Noelia Ricci project were selected from that larger mass as the finest parcels, representing a Chateau-style selection approach rare in Romagna. Viticulture is certified organic. Farming relies on cover crops of legumes for natural fertilisation, with minimal copper and sulfur inputs, and no herbicides.
Winemaking
Marco Cirese pursues what he calls a classic style with a contemporary approach. Fermentation is spontaneous with native yeasts. The cellar avoids over-extraction, high alcohol, and deep colour concentration, aiming instead for fine structure and drinkability. Wines age in various vessel sizes before bottling without filtration. The total production across both Pandolfa and Noelia Ricci labels is approximately 48,000 bottles annually from the certified-organic vineyards.
The Wines
The estate produces wines under two labels. The Pandolfa line includes the entry Pandolfo Sangiovese Superiore Romagna DOC and the Federico cuvee. The Noelia Ricci line reaches higher with the single-vineyard Godenza Sangiovese from the most prized parcel in the estate, plus a Trebbiano-based Bro Bianco. Both lines reflect the Predappio terroir's capacity for mineral precision in Sangiovese.
