Ferrucci and Martignani: 60 years of collaboration

It is certainly a great emotion to talk about the Stefano Ferrucci winery, from Castelbolognese, and to combine it with the Martignani sprayers. The family-run company was founded in 1932 and is among the most important in the Romagna wine scene. The passion and care of its 16 hectares of vineyards has passed through the various generations and, since 2006, the granddaughters of the founder, Ilaria and Serena, have led the company with the courage enough to take their own path, but also to innovate. with enthusiasm and hard work.

The Ferrucci winery is wonderful. Obtained from a Roman period building that they say was a horse changing stable, in the hills of the Serra di Castelbolognese (Emilia Romagna region, Italy). 16 hectares of vineyards, 250 meters above sea level, tidy and proud.

The harvest is rigorously done by hand and the grapes are placed in small boxes for processing. Yes, everything as it once was. Because passion is also that: touching with your hands.

To date, they own some of the most prestigious products in Romagna such as Centurione, pure Sangiovese Superiore, with a broad structure and a very interesting combination of spices and the addition of cherries, plums and sour cherries; or the Domus Caia One of the representative wines of Romagna, from Sangiovese grapes selected and subjected to natural drying. It has a very dark red color and a velvety and elegant flavor reminiscent of cooked plums, cocoa, coffee, sour cherries in alcohol and dried rose.

Their other productions are the Mattinale (Trebbiano), the Chiaro della Serra (Chardonnay) or the Domus Aurea which in 2017 won a label at the Tastevin AIS in Rome, an award from the Italian Sommelier Association.

Ferrucci and Martignani

Francesco Ferrucci, grandfather of Ilaria and Serena, began working with Martignani in 1959, the year in which he bought his first sprayer which was also the first that the founder of our company Claudio Martignani sold and who tells it so much estimate in his book: “I sold my first sprayer to Francesco Ferrucci, a small farmer who grows grapes and fruit as well as working as a farmer on a large farm. He bought it to do the treatments on his farm, but not wanting to risk too much, he used it with the normal volume, according to the dosage provided by his technicians, but dispensing half of the mixture. He was immediately enthusiastic about the technology and its many advantages. It was a good start for me too, the best publicity comes from the satisfaction of the farmers ”, wrote Martignani.

Regarding this episode, Ferrucci's granddaughter, Ilaria Ferrucci, today one of the owners of the winery, says that "in fact, we started working with your company in 59 and afterwards we never left it. At the beginning, the purchase was from my grandfather, who was a pioneer of character, an innovator, and this prompted him to try and be the first to use this technology that at the time was facing the agricultural world ". Then he adds that, "the excellent results, especially as regards the protection from diseases, confirmed the choice and even my father never abandoned this technology".

The latest Martignani sprayer arrived at Cantina Ferrucci last year. “When we needed to change the car, we never had any doubts”. Ilaria is very determined when she says that “with Martignani technology it is possible to control the product being distributed in an extremely precise way, dispersion is practically zero and distribution is perfect”. Furthermore, he explains that "using copper for the defence against downy mildew we are able to have an excellent defence with very little product (Bordeaux mixture at a dose of 1 kg / ha, reaching a maximum of 1.5 kg / ha) and this is essential not only for an effective economic saving, but above all due to a lowering of the quantity of copper-metal that is released into the environment ".

Grape blight is a disease caused by a fungal pathogen. It affects the green parts of the plant first, especially the shoots. In fact, the first infections are noticed on the leaves but then, subsequently, it also affects the bunch. If the infection is severe, the cluster is completely damaged, appears as if dried and is lost in its entirety. To date it is one of the diseases that most worries winemakers. That is why it is so vital to fight it.

The advantages of Martignani, according to Ferrucci

Ilaria assures us that "what Martignani Technology has done to us and makes us choose" is:

- Greater precision and control in the quantities of product used

- "Excellent" result in terms of the health of the vineyard ("excellent coverage on the leaf or on the bunches, without dispersion")

- Possibility of using less product because it is distributed in a precise and targeted way

- Economic savings ("both the product and the treatment time are optimized because by concentrating the barrel is filled less often")

We at Martignani are very proud of this collaboration which has lasted more than 60 years. Customer loyalty is the greatest satisfaction for us.