People came there to dance and to dine. The name comes from that building, and its drawing appears on every label. The work itself happens on the farm, among the family's own vineyards.

In September and October, Trebbiano and Lambrusco grapes are picked by hand, at the moment when sugar and acidity are in balance. The bunches are pressed gently, without crushing the seeds and stems. Within a day, the must goes over an open fire for thirty-six to forty-eight hours, until it has reduced by about half. Then it is left to rest until January.

Then the waiting begins. The must goes into a battery of barrels that get smaller and smaller, from one hundred and eighty litres down to ten, each made of a different wood: oak, ash, juniper, cherry, mulberry, chestnut. The barrels sit under the roof, where summers are hot and winters cold, and they stay open so that water slowly evaporates. Every winter, when the cold brings the work to a halt, the contents of each larger barrel are moved into the smaller one.

Once a year, every barrel is tasted. A glass pipette, a candle behind it to see the colour, a porcelain spoon because it changes nothing in the taste. Only then does anything go into a bottle.