In the Val d'Enza, where the provinces of Reggio Emilia and Parma meet at the Enza stream, Roberto Maestri has built one of Italy's most compelling arguments for the ancient Emilian tradition of bottle-refermented sparkling wine. His estate, Quarticello, is named after the area where he planted his first vines, and it is devoted entirely to native varieties and traditional methods.
Backstory
Roberto Maestri discovered his passion for viticulture in the years around 2001, when he began working the land in the Quarticello locality of Montecchio Emilia. He pursued a degree in viticulture and enology, and from 2006 onward he began making wine from his own grapes, producing the first Quarticello wines using the traditional Emilian method of bottle refermentation with cold-preserved grape must. The estate has grown steadily since, adding parcels and refining the approach, always in service of the varieties and the place.
The Region
Quarticello sits at the foot of the Tosco-Emilian Apennines, in the province of Reggio Emilia, at an elevation that benefits from cooler air descending from the mountains and the moderating influence of the Enza stream. This is classic Lambrusco country, a zone where sparkling wine has been made for centuries, though the commercial versions that dominate the market share almost nothing with what Maestri produces. The soils are clay-rich and mineral, well-suited to the aromatic native varieties.
Vineyards and Farming
Maestri farms exclusively native varieties: Lambrusco, Malvasia di Candia Aromatica, Spergola, and Malbo Gentile. No synthetic chemicals are used at any stage; the vineyards are managed following organic and biodynamic principles, with green manure crops and careful attention to biodiversity. All work is geared toward building soil health and vine balance rather than maximizing yield.
Winemaking
Quarticello's signature wines undergo natural refermentation in the bottle using only cold-stored grape must, without the addition of sugar or selected yeasts. This is the ancestral method as practiced in Emilia for generations, and Maestri applies it with precision: no filtration, no fining, no chemical additions. The result is bottles with light sediment, living bubbles, and a transparency of fruit that mass-market Lambrusco cannot approach. He also makes some classic-method sparkling wines and still wines for aging.
The Wines
The range centers on gently sparkling ancestral-method wines that are aromatic, lightly tannic, and built for the table. Malvasia di Candia and Spergola produce fragrant, textured whites and ambers, while the Lambrusco and Malbo Gentile offer the kind of earthy, berry-driven reds that have made this corner of Emilia so compelling to natural wine drinkers worldwide. Quarticello is a member of VinNatur.
