Inside the book

The treatise opens with a philosophical prelude comparing winemaking to the cultivation of the human spirit. Fabbroni invokes ancient origins, citing Noah, Mount Ararat, Melchizedek, and Egyptian and Mauritanian traditions, framing wine as an art with divine lineage. He then turns to Lombardy, describing local agricultural conditions, grape varieties including Nebbiol Milanese, Pignola, Negriera Dolce, Rossetto, Schiava, Vernaccia Rossa, and Uva d’Oro alongside guidance on harvest timing, often in multiple passes according to the ripeness of each cru, an approach strikingly modern for its time. Detailed sections follow on pressing, fermentation, clarification (sviatura), preservation (custodia), Tuscan winemaking methods, and the production of white wines. Particularly notable is his section on Vino di Carmignano, where he lists the grape varieties employed: “...si pigliano delle Uve migliori, di Sangioveto, Colorino, Raveradolo, dolci e caninesi...”. Thus Sangioveto (an early form of Sangiovese) is explicitly included among the recommended grapes. Although absent from his Montepulciano “recipe”, the “Calabrese” mention may in fact identify Sangiovese, a connection with southern Italy later confirmed by modern research or possibly a reference to grapes believed to have foreign origins (sometimes confused with Spanish imports in Southern Italy). This makes Fabbroni’s text one of the earliest printed references to Sangiovese in Tuscan winemaking, linking it directly to Carmignano in the late 18th century. Alongside, he praises Trebbiano for vinifying “senza ribollire” [without boiling] and celebrates Malvasia as one of Tuscany’s most esteemed wines, valued for its history, cultivation, and blending qualities.