Perhaps the most widely recognized wine in the northwest corner of Emilia-Romagna, Gutturnio is always a blend of Barbera and the local Bonarda grape. Bonarda here is not the grape widely grown throughout South America. Also known as Croatina, it is a high-yielding grape that ripens early and produces deeply-coloured, round and fruity wines. Gutturnio has a long and rich history dating to the early part of the 20th century and, in 1967, becoming Italy’s 7th DOC. It was thought, and rightly so, that Barbera’s high acidity could be counterbalanced by the tannic and deeply flavourful Bonarda. The name Gutturnio comes from the traditional ‘gutturnium’ jug that was the wine’s original vessel. Luretta’s Gutturnio is sourced from vineyards planted in 1965 and 1995, to clay, marl soils and trained via a combination of single spurred cordon and simple guyot. Grapes are harvested and sorted by hand, then fermented by indigenous yeasts for a period of 20 days. The wine is aged for 9 months in small, French oak barrels, 30% of which are new. Like all of Luretta’s red wines, this is characterful and intense, yet retains freshness and balance in a seemingly impossible way. It has loads of both fruit and savoury elements; dark cherry, black plum, liquorice and gentle kitchen spice. A uniquely traditional wine perfectly suited to the Fall dining table.