From Val d’Enza to Val Parma
The Torrechiara detail
Parma, Italy
The itinerary focuses on the Terrechiara detail.
1.a.
The Torrechiara Castle (44.655303, 10.273149) which dominates the valley and the underlying vineyards, owes its current appearance to Pier Maria Rossi (1413-1482) who had it rebuilt in 1448 styling it as a manor house where the Count could meet his lover Bianca Pellegrini from Arluno. Among the various finely frescoed rooms we find the Golden Chamber by Benedetto Bembo (1423-1489) and the pergola room decorated with vines and bunches of grapes.
Inside the castle walls, in addition to the church and the houses of the Borgo, there is still today a small family-run cellar:
1.b.
The "Cantina del Borgo" Azienda Agricola Vicari Giuseppe which produces Malvasia with the ancient ancestral method of natural double fermentation in the bottle.
1.c.
from the castle parking lot it is possible to take a walking route, the "Art Path" which crosses the Casatico vineyards up to the village of Langhirano along which numerous sculptural works have been positioned, (44.651808, 10.271228).
1.d.
The Abbey of Santa Maria della Nevei n Strada della Badia (Abbey Road) (44.657708, 10.289446) is worth a visit. It was built by Pier Maria Rossi for his natural son Ugolino, then abbot of the Church of Saint John the Evangelist in Parma. The Badia is surrounded by its vineyards and inside there is a beekeeping laboratory for the production and sale of personal care and herbal products elaborated according to the ancient recipes of the Antica Spezieria di San Giovanni Evangelista (the ancient pharmacy of Saint John the Evangelist) in Parma.
At the end of the visit we return to Strada Langhirano heading south to immerse ourselves in the vineyards and cellars in Località Casatico. We follow the signs for Casatico Strada della Nave. The area is particularly suited to viticulture and was already identified as such in the 1500s in the Farnese cadastre.
Here are the historic cellars of our province.
1.e.
Azienda Agricola Lamoretti (44.648294, 10.268697) (tastings, farm tourism) which produces different versions of Malvasia. It is also thanks to the founder of the winery, Isidoro Lamoretti, that the Consorzio dei Vini dei Colli di Parma was born in 1977, of which he was the first president.
1.f.
Cantina Il Cortile del Castello Società Agricola founded in 1910 by the Dall'Asta family, the oldest in the area, now under new ownership. The cellar insists on a space that in the sixteenth century was a farm dependency of the Castle. Inside it is possible to visit a small exhibition of company equipment and a 1600s press, the largest in the province (tastings, farm tourism) (44.651727, 10.262598).
1.g.
Continuing thawing the route in the hills towards Arola, we can admire an octagonal-shaped building positioned on top of a hill. It is a “guardiola delle vigne” (vineyard watch point) (44.665800, 10.276405).
It was a sort of sentry box where, during the harvest period, some custodians stood guard to watch over the vineyards below to prevent the grapes from being stolen during the night. It must be considered that before the arrival of phylloxera all the hills on both sides were covered with vineyards.
Other wineries in the area:
- La Bandina agricultural society (tastings) (44.658915, 10.261414)
- Carra di Casatico Azienda Vitivinicola (winery) (tastings, farm house tourism) (44.648399, 10.267248).
- Azienda Agricola Carbognani Anna (tastings).
- Michele Cerdelli Agricultural Company (tastings) (44.635314, 10.226672).
- Azienda Agricola La Madonnina (tastings, farmhouse tourism with rooms accomodations) produces an IGT Malvasia from the Malvasia Odorosissima vine (44.659483, 10.280903).
- Azienda Agricola Crocizia produces organic wines with vineyards located at an altitude of 450 meters (44.569725, 10.226057).
- Azienda Agricola Antonio Aldini a small family-run winery that produces both ancestral and dried Malvasia but with an eye to the future (44.619030, 10.259047).
- Azienda Agricola La Quercia di Vicari Maurizio Str. del Mulino 9, Torrechiara (44.6571325,10.2740843)
