Master Winemakers Top 100: Fabio Roversi

Fabio Roversi, head winemaker at Ruggeri, features as one of our top 100 winemakers and winner of the Best Prosecco award. He speaks to db about interpreting nature, his dream New World vineyard and why he would love to restore antique furniture.

Born in the Prosecco heartland town of Conegliano, Fabio Roversi studied oenology at university, then took his first professional steps into the world of winemaking through a series of short internships in the run-up to his military service. Once this had been completed, he started work as an oenologist, joining the Ruggeri team in 1989. Two years later, Roversi was appointed as the company’s head oenologist, a position he still holds today. Having inherited a family farm in the 1990s, Roversi has also spent the last 30 years as one of Ruggeri’s grape suppliers. He is married with two children.

Roversi won a Master medal for Ruggeri Valdobbiadene Superiore di Cartizze DOCG Brut the at the Prosecco Masters 2023, which also won him the Best Prosecco award.

Describe your winemaking approach in no more than three words.

Curiosity. Professionalism. Experimentation.

What’s your favourite part of the job?

Tasting the sparkling wine bases and the preparation of different cuvées.

Which aspect of the job keeps you awake at night?

The fear of not having done enough.

What’s your go-to drink at the end of a long day?

A Barolo.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?

“Be quiet and listen.”

What was your greatest winemaking mistake?

Waiting a week longer than planned for the start of harvest.

What’s the most important winemaking lesson you’ve learned so far?

You cannot dominate nature; you have to interpret it.

Which figure outside the world of wine inspires you?

Leonardo da Vinci.

Where would your fantasy vineyard be?

Oregon.

If you weren’t a winemaker, what would you be doing and why?

A restorer of antique furniture, to bring forgotten things back to life.

What’s the most memorable food match you’ve had with one of your wines?

Italian risotto with radicchio di Treviso and battuta di scampi.

What role does sustainability have to play in a Master-winning wine?

Essential. Sustainability is now an unavoidable reality.

Which type of wine do you drink most regularly?

Of course, a Valdobbiadene DOCG Brut or Extra Brut.

Your home is on fire: which bottle do you save?

The first Valdobbiadene I personally created here at Ruggeri. It is a Cartizze dry harvest 1989 and I still keep some.