Casa d'Ambra was founded by Francesco D'Ambra, alias Don Ciccio. He was
born in 1863 into a local wine producing family. He showed
his interest in wine selling since a young age. At the turn of the
century the island's wine was already known and much appreciated in the
Naples marketplace. Business flourished; and he bought the old Villa Garavini and began producing enough to export. His sons Riccardo, Andrea and Corrado took over in 1952 which signaled the
beginning of a new era: they first founded D'Ambra
Vini d'Ischia Spa and then made it a model cellar by introducing some
major technological changes. Great wines were produced from Biancolella,
Forastera and Per'e Palummo grapes; new vineyards were purchased in
Ischia's most renowned grape-producing areas to grow only local
varieties; a new winery was built in Panza, one of the top
wine-producing regions. In 1984 Mario D'Ambra became the sole owner of
the company. Through hard work he managed to regain old markets and open
new ones on a national and international level. Upon his death he was
succeeded by his grandchildren Riccardo, Andrea and Corrado who
introduced stricter criteria of grape variety selection in order to
produce the finest wines. Since 2000 the enologist Andrea D'Ambra, the
youngest of Mario's grandchildren, is the owner and manager of the
winery: he is very proud to carry on the family tradition of winemaking
that was started by his grand-grandfather Francesco in 1888 and is still
alive after so many years.
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