The first full day of the visit was taken up with Romagna Sangiovese and friends. It is one of the bonuses of this trip that the Sangiovese is complemented with Romagna’s white and sweet wines – Albana, Bombino Bianco, Trebbiano and more. It’s a splendidly mixed diet.

The Consorzio di vini di Romagna gave a good introduction to the climate, soils and subzones of Sangiovese Superiore, the tightly defined hilly area that produces better quality wines.

It was a particular pleasure to visit Le Rocche Malatestiane, a large, good-quality co-operative. It is part of a yet larger group of co-operatives that together produce three per cent of ALL Italian wine … quite remarkable. It shows that co-operatives have had to merge and scale up to stay competitive in today’s market. By chance, I had drunk their Sigismondo, Romagna Sangiovese Superiore, 2016 the night before this trip, an excellent introduction to Romagna’s great value and quality wines.

Today’s tastings showed Sangiovese in a fascinating range of styles. Enio Ottaviani, Caciara, Romagna Sangiovese Superiore 2019 is a close as Sangiovese gets to Pinot Noir. It is pale, redolent of small red berries and herbs, with lively acidity and very moderate tannins. The keys to the lightness and elegance are the sandy soils, the short maceration on the skins (8-10 days) and neutral ageing. Bravo!

At the other end of the scale is the more internationally-minded Drei Dona, coincidentally the very first winery I visited in Romagna, in 2011. Their Il Prunò, also Romagna Sangiovese Superiore, comes from a lower site in the much-vaunted Predappio subzone and the deeper colour suggests ageing in smaller format oak. Richest of all was Sangiovese in a near Ripasso style. Ca’ Perdicchi, Romagna Sangiovese Superiore Riserva Tre Anni 2017. It does indeed have five per cent of the fruit that has been dried in boxes after harvest with the aim of enriching the wine. It is aged for one year in barrique and one year in botti, resulting in a wine with volume in the mouth and fresh and dried fruit. I am not sure that is a style I warm to but given the popularity of Ripasso wines, this will be very well received by many people.

The evening saw a spectacular dinner at the super traditional La Sangiovesa osteria. Not many restaurants can boast their own cave and well or promise you love but all this is (apparently) on offer here. Certainly, the food was excellent. This was an 18-wine dinner, Sangiovese and friends, with the famous red wine being accompanied by Albana in both its dry and its sweet (passito) forms.