From the atlas
Società Agricola Cantina del Frignano
At A Glance
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| Location | Pazzano di Serramazzoni, Frignano Basso, Modena, Emilia-Romagna |
| Elevation | 450 to 550 metres |
| Vineyards | Roughly 5 to 6 hectares |
| Annual production | Approximately 18,000 to 22,000 bottles |
| Key grapes | Grasparossa, Malbo Gentile, Uva Tosca, Chardonnay, Pinot Nero, Trebbiano |
| Styles | Ancestral-method sparkling, classic-method sparkling, still red, still white, dessert |
| Farming | Organic |
The Producer
Cantina del Frignano is a small organic estate in the village of Pazzano di Serramazzoni, set in the Apennine foothills above Modena in Emilia-Romagna. It grows native Modenese varieties at elevations where Lambrusco producers almost never work, and makes ancestral and classic-method sparkling wines alongside still and dessert bottles from roughly 5 to 6 hectares of mountain vineyard.
The estate is listed by VinNatur, the association of natural wine producers, and its range reflects the mountain setting directly: the native Grasparossa and Malbo Gentile that anchor the ancestral-method wines behave differently here than they do on the Modena plain, and the cellar has built its two sparkling categories around what the different soil types on the property can support.
Place
Frignano Basso sits in the Apennine foothills of the province of Modena, and Pazzano di Serramazzoni is one of its higher-set villages. The estate's vineyards run from 450 to 550 metres above sea level. At that elevation the growing season is longer, ripening is slower, and the gap between daytime and overnight temperatures is measurable enough to leave an acid thread in the wines that flatland Lambrusco, grown closer to the Po valley, typically does not carry.
Grasparossa, the Modenese Lambrusco subvariety most closely associated with the Apennine foothills, produces darker, denser sparkling wines at altitude than Sorbara or Salamino do on the plain. At Cantina del Frignano, the mountain elevation adds firmness and length to the grape's naturally dark-fruited character. The classic-method sparkling wines come from the chalkier parcels of the property, where the soil supports the finer mousse and cooler fruit the style requires.
Soil And Site
The estate's soils are a balanced mix of clay, silt, and sand, with two distinct zones that the winery maps directly to its two sparkling categories. Chalky ground runs through the parcels planted with Chardonnay, Pinot Nero, and Trebbiano, which supply the classic-method range. Clay-heavier ground carries the Grasparossa and Malbo Gentile vines that go into the ancestral-method wines. Vine density is approximately 4,000 vines per hectare across the estate.
Story
The estate did not begin as a family project. In 1993, the Emilia-Romagna Region planted an experimental vineyard at this altitude as a formal agricultural test: could native varieties be grown organically at 450 to 550 metres in the Frignano Basso hills, and could they produce wines worth making? The experiment ran and the answer came back positive. Further parcels were planted in 2000 and in 2001, expanding what had started as a regional trial into a fully working estate.
Over those eight years, Cantina del Frignano moved from a single test plot to a range that now covers five named sparkling wines across two production methods, plus still reds, whites, and a dessert wine. The organic farming that began as the experimental condition stayed as the operational standard. The ancestral method, with its retained sediment and long lees contact, became the most distinctive part of the range: the approach that puts the mountain origin most directly in the bottle.
Vineyards And Cellar
The harvest is entirely manual. Yields are kept at 50 to 60 quintals per hectare, a controlled figure for a mountain estate working with both native and international varieties. Organic farming throughout means no synthetic treatments in the vineyard.
In the cellar, two methods produce two categories with different characters. Classic-method wines (Belmount, Esterosa) go through secondary fermentation in bottle, are disgorged, and released with a clean mousse. Ancestral-method wines (Tisbrino, Scurone, Rude) complete their fermentation in bottle and are not disgorged: the yeast sediment stays in the bottle and the wine goes out with it. Scurone, the most detailed ancestral-method wine in the range, undergoes brief skin contact before fermentation, completes fermentation on must, and then rests on the lees for a minimum of 14 months before release.
Wines
The range splits cleanly into two sparkling categories and a still tier. The ancestral range, Tisbrino, Scurone, and Rude, is where the native grapes and the mountain origin are most legible. Scurone is the central bottle: 85 percent Grasparossa and 15 percent Malbo Gentile, made by ancestral method with no disgorgement. The brief skin contact before fermentation adds colour and a light tannic grip to what would otherwise be a purely fruit-driven wine. Fourteen months on the lees gives it body and a faint savoury register underneath the dark berry fruit. Rude and Tisbrino follow similar logic but with different grape proportions or harvest timing.
The classic-method range, Belmount and Esterosa, draws from the chalky parcels and the international varieties. These are disgorged, cleaner in mousse, and cooler in fruit than the ancestral wines. They show what the estate's chalk soils and mountain altitude can produce in a more conventional sparkling format: fine bubbles, a tighter acid line, and less of the textural weight that the ancestral wines carry from their lees contact.
Still reds, whites, and a dessert wine round out the range. The still wines are produced from the remaining parcels across the property but are not detailed in current estate materials.
In The Glass
Scurone opens with dark fruit, blackberry and a bit of dried mulberry, with a faint earthy note that the lees ageing pulls up from behind the fruit. In the mouth the mousse is gentle rather than aggressive, the skin contact has left a soft tannin presence with grip and no weight, and the acidity from the mountain elevation holds the whole wine in place and extends the finish well beyond what a flatland Grasparossa typically manages. The 14-month lees contact shows as a mild yeasty breadth in the mid-palate, a texture rather than a flavour. It is not a polished sparkling wine in any conventional sense. The sediment is part of it.
The classic-method wines, Belmount and Esterosa, run cooler and cleaner. The chalk soils produce wines with a finer mousse and more citrus and white-fruit registers than the ancestral range. Acidity is still the structural backbone, but here it drives brightness rather than grip.
A Bottle To Understand It
Scurone is the right first bottle. It is 85 percent Grasparossa and 15 percent Malbo Gentile, made by ancestral method with no disgorgement, rested for at least 14 months on the lees. That process is transparent in the glass: the dark fruit of mountain Grasparossa, the soft tannin from skin contact, the textural body from lees, the firm acid from altitude, and the natural sediment that tells you exactly how the wine was made and where it comes from. Start here and the estate's choices in vineyard and cellar become clear.
Anecdote
In 1993, the Emilia-Romagna Region planted a vineyard at Pazzano di Serramazzoni as an agricultural experiment. The question was specific: could organic viticulture work at 450 to 550 metres in the Frignano hills, using native Modenese varieties, and produce wines with enough character to justify the altitude? The mountain setting ran against the regional norm; Lambrusco belonged on the plain, close to the Po, where the flatland sites of Sorbara and Salamino had built the category's reputation over generations. The experiment ran, the vines grew, and the harvest came in with firm acidity and darker fruit than the lowland styles. By 2000 and 2001, the estate had planted further parcels on its own account, and what had started as a government test had become a working organic winery with a range of ancestral and classic-method sparkling wines carrying the Frignano hills address on every label.
Final Word
Cantina del Frignano presents Emilia-Romagna through mountain-grown sparkling wines. The mountain site, the native varieties, the ancestral method, and the long lees contact produce sparkling wines with more grip, more acid, and more sediment than most drinkers associate with the region. Scurone is composed of 85 percent Grasparossa and 15 percent Malbo Gentile.
Sources
- https://en.cantinadelfrignano.it/chi-siamo
- https://www.vinnatur.org/soci/cantina-del-frignano/
- https://en.cantinadelfrignano.it/metodo-ancestrale
- https://en.cantinadelfrignano.it/metodo-classico-e-riserve
- https://www.cantinadelfrignano.it/copia-di-metodo-classico
- https://enoteca.parmamenu.it/it-IT/scurone-frignano.aspx