Fratelli Raguzzoni
We didn't set out to make different wines. We set out to listen to our land without prejudice.
This is the story of two brothers who chose to reinterpret Emilia through its most authentic grape varieties, creating wines that are distinctive, surprising, and deeply rooted in their land—without ever losing sight of its history.
There are places where wine is so deeply woven into the local culture that it feels as though every path has already been explored, every interpretation already attempted, every story already told. Emilia is one of them. A land that has given the world some of Italy's most extraordinary gastronomic treasures and, precisely because of this, sometimes risks being told in the same way over and over again.
Yet wine has one remarkable quality: it never stops surprising us.
The first time I met Davide and Andrea Raguzzoni, I was convinced we would mostly talk about wine. I was wrong.
We talked about vineyards, doubts, research, mistakes, and experimentation. About everything that happens long before a grape ever becomes wine.
Only afterwards did we open the bottles. And there was one sentence I heard Davide repeat several times throughout the day.
"Not because we make it, but..."
At first, it sounded like a simple expression. Then I realized it meant much more. It was his way of stepping out of the spotlight. Of taking the winemaker out of the center of the story and letting the wine speak for itself.
Because Davide and Andrea don't try to convince you. They prefer to create the conditions for you to reach your own conclusions.
Looking back on that day, I believe this is the key to understanding Fratelli Raguzzoni.
What if this land still had something to say that no one had ever truly stopped to hear?
The Raguzzoni family has been growing grapes in the Modena countryside since the 1970s. For more than fifty years, they have done what every great farming family knows best: observe. Wait. Learn.
Their project was not born from the desire to open a winery, but from the need to complete a journey.
To follow every bunch of grapes all the way to the bottle. To take responsibility for telling the story of their land without intermediaries.
"Wine begins the moment someone stops trying to impose an identity on it and finally starts listening."
Today, everyone talks about identity. It is a beautiful word. Perhaps one that has been used too often. But true identity is born when you find the courage to ask a question that no one else is asking.
And that is exactly what the Raguzzoni brothers did.
They are not producers against tradition. They are producers who had the courage to reinterpret it.
They chose to celebrate native grape varieties such as Trebbiano Modenese, Trebbiano di Spagna, Lambrusco Oliva, and Lambrusco di Sorbara through a different lens.
Not to be original, but to be authentic. That is why they prefer to speak about Emilian refermented wines.
It is not a rejection of the Lambrusco tradition, but rather the desire to express a philosophy before defining a category.
Here are the most pioneering wines of contemporary Emilia, redefining what Emilia wine can be.
There was one word that kept coming back to me while listening to Andrea: courage.
Because it takes courage to bring back a grape like Lambrusco Oliva when everyone else is looking elsewhere.
It takes courage to choose amphorae when it would be far easier to follow established paths.
It takes courage to pursue elegance when, for years, the market rewarded nothing but power.
And it takes even greater courage to believe that a Chardonnay can find its own voice in Emilia.
It's easy to be different when being different becomes fashionable. It's far more difficult when no one yet understands where you're trying to go.
Oak supports the white wines without ever overshadowing them. Amphorae preserve the refermented wines, protecting their energy, precision, and authenticity. Stainless steel appears only when truly necessary. The result is a collection of wines that, while remarkably diverse, share a personality that is instantly recognizable: salinity, tension, and remarkable persistence.
They are wines meant to leave a lasting impression. And perhaps that's exactly why they are finding their place on the tables of some of the world's finest restaurants.
It would be a mistake, however, to think this happened by following the market, because the opposite is true.
Davide and Andrea stayed true to their own vision of wine, even when it seemed to be moving in the opposite direction from everyone else. Then, the market changed.
Today, restaurateurs, sommeliers, and wine lovers are looking less and less for wines designed simply to impress. They are searching for wines with a story to tell. Wines with a distinctive identity and a true sense of place.
As Davide pours the first glass, he smiles. Then he repeats a phrase I have come to know well.
"Not because we make it, but..."
And he lets the wine finish the sentence.
Become an Explorer
Every month we will present an unknown and exclusive winery we have discovered. Every month you will receive what we consider to be its best bottle delivered directly to your door: a wine that is always new, exclusive and surprising.
It is impossible not to think of Filare di Mezzo, a bottle-fermented sparkling wine made from Lambrusco Oliva that restores the full nobility of a grape variety too often left in the shadows. The bubbles are exceptionally fine, almost creamy. Small red berries intertwine with aromatic herbs, while an extraordinary saline streak carries the palate through to a remarkably long finish.
It is one of those wines that compels you to rethink everything you thought you knew.
The same is true of J'Accuse. Here, Lambrusco di Sorbara reveals itself with an almost disarming elegance. Pomegranate, red citrus, wild rose, vibrant freshness and a persistence that makes every sip incredibly food-friendly.
It is not a wine crafted to impress. It is a wine crafted to endure.
The two Trebbiano perhaps represent the most intimate expression of the brothers' vision.
Trebbiano Modenese speaks of precision, tension and minerality. It is pure, focused and authentic.
Trebbiano di Spagna, on the other hand, follows a deeper path. Skin maceration and extended ageing shape a wine that evolves continuously in the glass, revealing just how much complexity this grape variety can achieve when it is allowed to speak for itself.
Then comes Gèra. And with it comes one of the clearest memories I carry with me.
I still remember the very first sip.
Not because it was an Chardonnay from Emilia, but because it forced me to question a prejudice I didn't even realize I had. Like many others, I had always believed that certain regions were naturally destined for certain grape varieties.
Gèra proved me wrong. Not by trying to imitate the world's great Chardonnays, but by having the courage to speak with its own voice.
Davide and Andrea never tried to convince me. Quite the opposite.
Davide smiled and once again said the same words:
"Not because we make it, but..."
Then he simply invited me to taste it.
That was the moment I understood the difference between a winemaker who tells the story of their wine and one who lets the wine tell their story.
That's what Gèra is. An old family vineyard that no one would have imagined could produce a Chardonnay of such elegance.
A blow to skepticism. "Because true quality always finds a way to win everyone over."
The Raguzzoni Brothers are more than just an emerging name in Italian wine. They are two people who had the courage to do something that is becoming increasingly rare: to keep asking questions.
Perhaps that is the true meaning of innovation.
Not breaking away from the past, but respecting tradition enough to keep questioning it.
Because innovation is not about creating wines that have never existed before.
It is about revealing what a land has always held within itself, but that no one had yet found the courage to tell.
Looking back on that day, one sentence from Davide still echoes in my mind:
"Not because we make it, but..."
And perhaps that is where the true secret of the Raguzzoni Brothers lies.
They have never tried to convince anyone that their wines are better.
They have simply worked to make them honest enough to speak for themselves.
And perhaps that is the most beautiful thing a great wine can do.
Not convince you that you have found all the answers.
But leave you wanting to keep asking questions.
Gunter's other travels
Island of Pico
Adega Lucas Lopes Amaral
My son is the youngest vigneron in the whole of the Azores Archipelago.
Isola di Porto Santo
Companhia de Vinhos dos Profetas e dos Villões
Companhia de Vinhos dos Profetas e dos Villões offers wines that tell stories of passion, resilience and cultural identity.
