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Colli Bolognesi
Typical Products
Do you want to get a "taste" of the Colli Bolognesi ?
The food and wine treasures are an emblem of high quality and ancient traditions.
Enjoy the beauty of this territory while savoring the flavors of its typical products.
Products that also do not lack PGI and DOC titles.
White truffles
Emilia Romagna boasts different truffles varieties.
Different regional recipes are distinguished by its use and it is also the protagonist of festivals and other food and wine events that attract thousands of people, such as the annual "Tartòfla" in Savigno. One of the most prized varieties of truffles is represented by the white truffle of the hills of Bologna, elected "King of truffles" since ancient times as it is quite difficult to find and therefore particularly valuable. This precious tuber is guarded by the woods of the Bolognese Apennines in the vicinity of some municipalities such as Savigno, Monte San Pietro and Castello di Serravalle, for example.
Mortadella
The Bologna's Mortadella is a product with a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI).
It is the most well-known and representative Bolognese product, so much that in Italy and abroad it is simply known as Bologna.
Testimonies of processing pork meat in a mortar (from which it derives its name) are present since Roman times but the first writings regarding its preparation date back to the Middle Ages. Mortadella is easily recognizable thanks to its cylindrical shape and its pinkish color punctuated by the white of lardons. She is also the protagonist of an annual gastronomic event held in Zola Predosa: "Mortadella, please".
Wines of the hills
"Colli Bolognesi" is the most articulated Denomination of Controlled Origin (DOC) in Italy and it indicates one of the most important wine-growing areas of Emilia. This denomination is even subdivided into sub-zones: Colli Bolognesi, Monte San Pietro and Castelli medioevali (medieval castles).
The wines that are included are mainly derived from Pignoletto, Barbera, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Riesling Italico, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Nero, Chardonnay and Sauvignon vines and the main municipalities affected by their production are Savigno, Castello di Serravalle, Monteveglio and Monte San Pietro.
In Monte San Pietro at the beginning of September there is even an event dedicated to the celebration and tasting of wine, the "Sagra del vino dei Colli Bolognesi" ("Wine Festival of the Bolognese Hills").
Among the best known wines of "Colli Bolognesi" there is certainly the "Pignoletto": a white wine usually firm and dry which can also be found crisp and sparkling, in 2010 it obtained the DOCG denomination (Denomination of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin). This type of wine is so loved to have even events dedicated to him, as the annual classic car race "Raid del Pignoletto".
Among the red wines, the most widespread are the Barbera and the Bologna Rosso (which comes from the combination of Cabernet and Sauvignon grapes and it is perfect to accompany cold cuts, meat sauces and cheeses that cannot lack on the tables of this area).
Sasla
The type of grape known as Saslà is produced from the vine called Chasselas (from mispronunciation of the vine's name derives that of the grape). It is a particularly tasty and refined table grape with a very thin skin and spherical berries that can be almost transparent.
Its origins are very old but not well defined (from Europe or Africa). Its cultivation spread on the Bolognese hills since the early twentieth century. The period of its decline began in the 50s in favor of wine varieties with more appealing characteristics and a minor delicacy and complexity of processing.
Currently the cultivation of this vine is kept alive by small productions and is protected by Slow Food.
Fried dumpling
The name "gnocco fritto" refers to a typical Emilian product and the Samoggia Valley is one of the areas most dedicated to its production.
In the rest of Bologna's province it is known as "crescentina" (name that in other areas of Emilia, as Modena's hills, instead indicates the "tigella").
In Autumn at Castello di Serravalle there is also an event dedicated to it, the "Festival of Gnocco Fritto", which holds the record for the longest "gnocco fritto" in the world.
Parmesan Cheese
Parmigiano Reggiano is one of the most known and imitated Italian gastronomic product in the world. The area of ​​original production includes the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and Bologna (left side of the Reno) and Mantova (right part of the Po).
Parmigiano Reggiano (in the Bolognese area also called simply "forma" or Parmigiano) is a product of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), it means that it is produced with milk coming exclusively from local farms and is processed in local dairies following still the traditions of the past.
Honeys
The territory of the Colli Bolognesi offers a still intact natural environment, rich in varieties of flowers and trees: excellent for the collection of pollen from bees and therefore for the production of different types of honey.
Honey production can indeed provide a photograph of "Colli Bolognesi" and its incredible variety of landscapes.
Given, for example, the large presence of chestnut trees in this area, there is a good presence of chestnuts honeys as well as the variegated and fragrant presence of flowers leads to excellent "Millefiori" (that means "1000 flowers").
Italy is the only country in the world to boast over 50 different types of honey.
Bees, at risk of disappearance due to various factors including the use of pesticides, play a key role for the ecosystem and in the territory of Monte San Pietro, with "Sulle Vie del Miele", there is a group of beekeepers who are committed to making bees known and appreciated by sensitizing the importance of biodiversity and environmental education.
Chestnuts
The "Valle del Lavino" is historically characterized by the cultivation of chestnuts.
Two large areas make up the historic landscape of Bolognese Apennines: these are chestnut woods between the slopes of "Monte Vignola", east of "Montepastore", up to the northern slopes of "Monte Tramonto", near the church of "Monte Severo", and the chestnut woods cultivated on north-western slopes of Monte Bonsara.
They constitute the production area of ​​the "Marrone Biondo", typical chestnut of the Bolognese area, and of the "Marrone di Montepastore", one of the most valuable type of chestnut of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.
Many producers have also maintained traditional cultivation operations.