Ambassadors of Verdicchio in the world
On the initiative of 19 founding partners, Colonnara was founded in 1959 in Cupramontana, in what has been called "the capital" of Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi.
Since the beginning the cultivated vineyards are located on the right bank of the Esino river, in Cupramontana, Apiro, Staffolo, San Paolo di Jesi, in an area of medium-high hills that gives the wines a mineral, acidulous characteristic, which will prove decisive in the development of our excellent products. Starting in the early 1960s and with the recognition of the Verdicchio Doc (1968), began the experimentation on the potential of this vine and on the aging possibilities of one of the few Italian white wines suited to aging.
Hand in hand with the gradual expansion of the winery, which today has more than a hundred members and produces the main regional Docs, we have consolidated our expertise in the Metodo Classico and Martinotti sparkling wine which places us among the reference producers in the Marche.
Colonnara became a member of Marchedoc
On 1st April Colonnara joined up with another cooperative from Pesaro, called La Morciola, thereby establishing the Marchedoc società cooperativa agricola, a symbol of the spirit of cooperation and union which inspired the founder members of the Winery in 1959 and that is still present in the company even today.
International award for the Ubaldo Rosi wine
The Ubaldo Rosi, Brut Metodo Classico Riserva 2006 di Verdicchio DOC, received the Gambero Rosso award of 3 Bicchieri. This was the first time that a sparkling wine from the Marches had received this award.
The Luigi Ghislieri wine was born
The Luigi Ghislieri, Brut Metodo Classico di Verdicchio DOC, was produced for the first time. This wine is dedicated to the Cooperative Chairman of the same name, who in the 1970s restored the Cupramontana tradition for sparkling wines.
The Verdicchio Passito Sanctorum was produced
The Verdicchio Passito Sanctorum was produced for the first time, a dessert wine whose name intends to evoke the Sancta Sanctoroum, the place for seeking presence, silence and a profound dialogue and where one can gather the most beautiful and the most precious of all things.
The Verdicchio Lyricus was born
The Verdicchio Lyricus was born, conceived for those encountering Verdicchio for the first time. Its name is a reminder of the all-embracing path of melodies and harmonies for those who taste this wine.
The Verdicchio Superiore Tufico, a late harvested wine, was born
The Verdicchio Superiore Tufico was born, which takes its name from the type of soil in the vineyards where the grapes used to produce this wine are grown. It is a wine which immediately earned important national and international awards.
The Ubaldo Rosi wine joined the Colonnara family
Ubaldo Rosi, a Brut Metodo Classico Riserva di Verdicchio DOC, became a member of the Colonnara family and immediately enjoyed considerable success.
The new ageing cellar was opened
The ageing cellar, also known as the “vault”, is a vast underground room where the various wines are allowed to age according to the specific characteristics of their class, in an ad hoc micro-climate.
The first Verdicchio selection procedures were started
The year 1985 was an extremely important year. The name of the winery was changed to COLONNARA Società Cooperativa Agricola a responsabilità limitata. In November the “Colonnara Brut Metodo Classico Millesimato 1982” sparkling wine was awarded the Medaglia d'Oro. Production was started in the same year of two wines that have marked the history of the Company: the Verdicchio Cuprese and the red Tornamagno.
Gold Medal for the Brut Metodo Classico
The Colonnara Brut Metodo Classico Millesimato sparkling wine received the Medaglia d'Oro, a prestigious award given at the 5th Italian Wine Tasting Fair in Torgiano.
Production of sparkling wine with the Metodo Classico
The first Verdicchio sparkling wine was produced using the Metodo Classico.
Launch of sparkling wine production
The first Verdicchio sparkling wine was produced using the Metodo Martinotti thanks to the sparkling wine tradition of Cupramontana that was restored by Luigi Ghislieri, thereby launching the production of Colonnara sparkling wines. In the same year, the Company took part in its first International Wine Fair in Germany.
D.O.C. Recognition
The Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi was recognised as a production with controlled designation of origin (D.O.C.).
First bottles to hit the market
The first bottled Verdicchio went on the market, with its label signed by Bruno da Osimo.
19 wine growers establish Colonnara
Colonnara was founded in 1959 with the name of Cantina Sociale di Cupramontana and it immediately enjoyed rapid growth.
Colonnara, passion and expertise of over one hundred winemakers
Discovering Colonnara means first of all meeting the stories and faces of the wine-grower members who for decades have cared about the careful and rigorous cultivation of grapes in the vineyard, then entrusted to the care and experience of our cellarhands and winemakers.
Today there are more than one hundred members who share the spirit and values of Colonnara: a company that lives its time respecting traditions, which takes the right time to age wines and sparkling wines, which is always ready to welcome those who want to visit her and get to know her more closely.
The aging cellar
The aging cellar is the heart of our company.
Here, where our bottles rest for years and silence is interrupted only by the ritual movements of our cellarhands, it is possible to grasp the very essence of Colonnara: the desire to recover ancient traditions and to constantly invest in experimentation to obtain excellent results.
The 80s were decisive years for our winery: at that time the wines and sparkling wines for aging were born, which today are our flagship: the Verdicchio Metodo Classico and the red and white wine selections like Cuprese , a Verdicchio that can withstand 30 years in the bottle.
In 1989 we therefore created this space where the almost total absence of light, a constant temperature of around 14-16 ° C, the right humidity, the absence of noise and vibrations, are fundamental elements for the correct aging process of wines.
The wine tower
One of the few still preserved in Italy, the wine tower is a symbol of Colonnara and dominates the hill on which our winery has always been. It was designed in 1961 based on a design by Ing. Luigi Spinolo of Piacenza whose patent however was of the winemaker Emilio Sernagiotto and of the Ing. P. Marchino.
The structure in vitrified cement, a material particularly suitable for storing wine due to its ability to maintain a constant temperature inside it and today much appreciated, is constituted by a system of communicating tanks that exploit the force of gravity to make the wine flow down from the tanks higher than the lower ones, thus limiting the use of hydraulic pumps.
The lower part of the tower is still used today for some stages of winemaking.
