Oltrepò Pavese is the fascinating land extending in a triangular shape in the southern part of Lombardy, in the province of Pavia, between Piedmont, Liguria and Emilia. The soft hills and the deep valleys are covered in thousands of hectares of vineyards: the Versa Valley is the beating heart of the entire wine business in Oltrepò. Thanks to its ideal climate and terroir, great local grapes - such as croatina, moscato and riesling, from which excellent still and frizzante wines are produced - are cultivated with passion and respect for tradition. Grape varieties of French origin - such as chardonnay, pinot grigio and pinot nero - have been cultivated in our estates for more than a century. Such grape varieties are vinified on their own, without adding other varieties, in order to produce elegant varietals, but they are also used as base wines for great spumante wines, after a proper secondary fermentation.
Pietro Achilli founded a winery that is tied to tradition and is respectful of old cultivation methods: in fact, the grapes are only hand-harvested. The vineyards cover twenty hectares of land located between the Municipalities of Santa Maria della Versa, Castana and Montescano. Only anti parasite products with a low environmental impact are used, in the highest respect for the territory. Bonarda and Pinot Nero, obtained without maceration, are the excellence of the production, since they are made from the most important grape varieties of Oltrepò. The grapes for Ruinello’s Crus are collected and accurately selected from the best vineyards of those estates: “Villana”, a Bonarda from Piana di Bolzo; “San Domenico”, a Pinot Nero, and the Cabernet Sauvignon known as “Baròn” from the slope of Sabiolo; a Buttafuoco called “Sjurot” from the steep hill of Villafiorita.
The Ruinello winery shines among the vineyards of the Versa Valley, dominating it from its high position. Largely built underground to exploit the natural freshness of the ground, the winery has seen the progressive introduction of new working techniques, necessary for the production processes of modern oenology: from the use of cold to fermentation and bottling, passing through secondary fermentation in autoclave. The quality of the product is guaranteed, during the conservation, by the use of advanced equipment and of stainless steel wine tanks. The bottling takes place in sterile environment, in which the bottle is cleaned inside and outside; this requirements are necessary to guarantee wines with an impeccable packaging and organoleptic characteristics that are not altered over time. Our riserva wines refine for a long time in French oak barriques, obtaining a perfect symbiosis between fruit and wood at the end of their natural evolution. Ruinello wants a direct and friendly relation with the consumers, offering quality products at a fair price.
Our wines are produced through the accurate vinification of grapes that are rigorously hand-harvested in our vineyards and that are grown by winemakers who, like us, want to obtain quality from their rows, in the respect of environment and of the winemaking tradition of Oltrepò Pavese. Besides the typical production of wines and spumante wines, there are high-quality Crus obtained exclusively from particular vineyards of Ruinello’s estates, after years of experimentation. Pinot nero and chardonnay enjoy ideal habitat and climate, so they can best express their historical excellence. From the careful crushing of berries, the base wines for the production of spumante wines are obtained, besides a Pinot Bianco de Noirs deliberately made frizzante. The fruit of generous grape varieties such as pinot grigio, riesling, moscato and malvasia offer white wines that express the prominent features of this land in their fragrant or aromatic bouquet. The most typical notes of our tradition elegantly resound in the warm purple red colour of Bonarda or Barbera, produced as varietals, but also blended with vespolina to produce Buttafuoco or the sweet Sangue di Giuda.
From the noblest grapes of our family’s vineyards we obtain excellent high-quality red wines, produced only in favourable years: “La Villana”, local Bonarda with its violet foam; a vintage blended Buttafuoco, known as “Sjurot”, with fresh and strong fruity aromas; a refined Pinot Nero, obtained through maceration, known as “San Domenico”, refined in French oak barriques; an elegant Cabernet Sauvignon, called “Baròn”, with fresh herbaceous notes. These products represent the highest excellence of Ruinello’s catalogue. To guarantee high-quality wines, during all the stages of their production, meticulous analytic-sensorial controls are carried out. Moreover, each D.O.C. wine batch undergoes controls by the Oltrepò Pavese Consortium, which certificates its origin issuing the consortium mark, displayed on every single bottle.