Vecchia Romagna, new workshops in Bologna to grow abroad

It will have new high-tech cellars and a new research and laboratory area (sensory, chemical, physical, microbiological) in the Bolognese cathedral of brandy, the immense factory on the outskirts of Bologna of the Montenegro Group, where the distillate rests for years, if not decades, in 4,000 oak barrels before becoming Vecchia Romagna, the world's best-selling Italian brandy.

"Technology changes but wood does not change, ingredients do not change and time does not change. In fact, our most important job is to stand here and wait for the years to pass, to hand down to posterity the heritage that our ancestors left us,' says Antonio Zattoni, master blender of the Montenegro group, walking between the small French oak barriques (for the first year of 'rest') and the large Slavonian oak casks where 4 to 5 thousand litres of distillates mature, which, once blended, become the nectar of Bacchus preserved in the iconic triangular bottle. From the classic version to the historic Vecchia Romagna "Etichetta Nera" to the two reserves launched in the last four years, the "Riserva Tre botti" (a blend of brandy aged in three different barrels, Slavonian oak, French oak and red wine tonneaux) and the "Riserva 18", which rests 18 years in oak barrels before being refined in barrels previously used for Amarone della Valpolicella, the most prized blend of the Bolognese house.

A visit to the plant in San Lazzaro di Savena, an area of 18 hectares, 5 of which are covered, in the countryside east of Bologna, the heart of the Montenegro Group's liqueur production since 1970 (and one of the five best-equipped brandy plants in Europe) is an opportunity to retrace the centuries-old past of the triangular bottle and to understand the development plans of the Bologna-based company, in the hands of the Seragnoli family since 1999.

Here was collected the heritage ofJean Buton, the master distiller of the French Napoleonic court, who in 1830 opened the first Italian steam distillery in Bologna (Buton cognac became Vecchia Romagna in 1939 because France forbade the use of the term Cognac outside its borders and specifications). Here 4 million litres of alcohol are stored today (more than 12 million a year pass through here), 4 million bottles of Vecchia Romagna come out of here and small reserves of brandy from every vintage since 1860 remain jealously guarded here.

While work is in full swing on the construction of the laboratories, which will be inaugurated next year, there are no official dates for the start of building work in the cellars, 'but the investments have already been decided and will allow us to improve the process technologies and enhance the Italian roots of a brandy that still has its reference market in our country, with over 70% of sales, but which we also want to grow abroad, starting with Romania, Germany and Switzerland, and which is also attracting interest in Arab and Asian countries, with over 70% of sales, but which we also want to grow abroad, starting with Romania, Germany, and Switzerland, and which is also attracting interest in Arab and Asian countries," explain the top management of the Montenegro Group.