I just finished speaking with wine maker Leone Conti a well established wine maker from Ravenna, located in a wine growing district of Santa Lucia delle Spianate, in Faenza. I first tasted his wines twenty years ago in Mykonos, Greece. I always admired his style but never took the initiative to visit the winery, and I take this as a good opportunity to finally meet him.

Driving from Bologna up to the winery, I am not sure what to expect. Located on #1 Via Pozzo, an address that captivates the image of a grand winery, is it flash, or a posh winery, or a simple place down to earth place, where a wine maker makes his dream come true? The latter is the case, as we arrive it is a casual environment, the owners are Coral and Leone Conti, a couple with two small children who live their dream.

I am with a friend from Canada as we pull up to the winery, we observe the same scene, a group, a gathering, we discover it is a harvesting party. The new olive oil, a twist to what we thought, we felt a little out-of-place at first but we jumped right in. As soon as we exited the car, a man dressed casually (behind a barbeque) says, “I am cooking baccalà, come in and have some food and wine”, he is Leone Conti.

A warm start to an afternoon, their house and winery are one in the same. The house is wonderful, a hip designed two-story antique building. We admire the architecture and design, a contemporary feel mixed with old fashioned wooden beams, with exposed tiled ceilings and a stainless steel kitchen for entertaining.

Some speaking English while others couldn’t say much more than “ciao”, the group was friendly, and joyous. The foods were all prepared by guests and the variation was delicious, we ate and ate, drank and drank until our heart’s content.

The olive oil named lunar was flowing, a blend of 6 varieties of olives. It was smooth, not peppery, fruit driven with a nice finish. We used it on whatever we could but it was best with the local bread. Luna is made from six different cultivars: Nostrana, Ghiacciola, Frantoio, Pendolino, Orfana and Leccino, all cultivated in Santa Lucia delle Spianate, in the nearby hills near Faenza.

Leone and Coral are superb hosts and they produce excellent wines.