History of the Dei Paduli Farm
Originally the Dei Paduli Farm (Azienda Agricola Dei Paduli) was called AZIENDA AGRICOLA CANTINA, containing the extra word Cantina, or cellars. This name was due to the oldest building remaining on the site, a large facility dating from the 1700’s which was built for wine production, a function it continued to serve until about 1950.
Originally it was a model for all the wine producers in the area, long before the current Villa Bagno Cellars even existed. It also served as a storage facility for wheat and to this day on the ground floor one can see an old scales for weighing wine and grain carts, a piece of local history enjoyed by our guests. The southern part of the building contains the human living quarters, once occupied by the farmer and his family.
It has been refurbished for modern living purposes without changing its name, including that of the “vinegar room” (stanza dell’aceto) where, as the name implies, balsamic vinegar was aged, although this activity is now carried out in a nearby outbuilding.
The original farmer’s quarters of the old cellar facility also houses the current Dei Paduli Bed & Breakfast.
The land is located in the municipality of Reggio Emilia, in the Paduli area, bordering on the municipality of Rubiera.
The farm, for ages owned by the Parmeggiani family, was up until 1970 operated by a tenant farmer and focused on the production of grapes for making Lambrusco and cow’s milk for Parmigiano Reggiano.
In 1970 Giuseppe Parmeggiani, who had just become an agronomist, decided to operate the farm himself, moving from Milan to Reggio Emilia, to the land of his paternal ancestors. In addition to cultivating various grain crops, Giuseppe also started raising beef cattle, but gave that up in 1985 in order to devote himself, along with his son, Guido, to the cultivation of garden produce, an enterprise partly carried out organically. The main thrust of this operation was tomatoes for canning.
Today the farm has returned to its roots: maintaining the organic fields, it now produces special fodder crops for feeding dairy cows whose milk is used for the production of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, cereals, Lancellotta and Grasparossa grapes for the production of DOC Lambrusco.
Our homemade jams
The jams serves at breakfast have been made by us. The fruit used comes from the trees scattered about the grounds, including the hedges and woods on the property. Some of these fruit trees are actually wild, growing spontaneously, such as the plum trees and several of the marasca cherry trees, which are actually more bushes.
Although not always abundant, but nevertheless rich in flavor and quite wholesome, the fruit these trees and bushes bear is diligently gathered at the peak of ripeness. We harvest: marasca cherries, wild plums, quince, varieties of apples no longer commonly available, mulberries and winter medlars, as well as standard plums, persimmons, apricots and pears.