The founder Francesco D’Ambra, or Don Ciccio, who was born in 1863 in a family of local growers, dedicated himself, since he was very young, the to the trade of Ischia wine, which was appreciated and consumed in the market of Naples at the end of the century. The business thrived, to start and develop, in this way, a great company in Ischia in the ancient Villa Garavini, which thus became the seat of the company. The sale was extended to the most important regional markets, to expand, then, abroad. Since that time, Ischia has been producing over 250,000 hectoliters of wine. To Francesco D’Ambra, in 1952, his children Mario, Michele and Salvatore succeeded. The Francesco D’Ambra company turned into D’Ambra Vini d’Ischia S.p.A. and a series of transformations began, that today have made of it a model winery. Today, they vinify and bottle Biancolella, Forastera and Per’ ’e Palummo grapes, with modern facilities; they are buying vineyards in the most famous parts of the island, re–planting only local varieties; finally, they are building a new winery in Panza d’Ischia, one of the most important wine–producing areas on the island. In 1984, Mario D’Ambra, who became sole owner of D’Ambra Vini, led the company to a new conquest of domestic and foreign markets. On the death of Mario D’Ambra, his grandchildren, Riccardo, Andrea and Corrado succeeded, who continued the activities based on the principles of a greater selection of vines and increasingly characteristic products. In 2000 the property passed to the enologist Andrea D’Ambra, the youngest of the grandchildren of Mario, who took the line of a family tradition, started in 1888 by his grandfather Francesco, and that is still alive after more than 100 years.
D’Ambra purchases annually about 5,000 quintals of grapes from 150 vinegrowers in Ischia, of which 120 are associated in a Cooperative. The vineyards owned by the company are of four hectares in the locality of Frassitelli, a hectare the locality of Montecorvo. In addition, Casa D’Ambra manages, in conjunction with local vinegrowers – 6 hectares in the most suitable areas of the island. The company focuses strongly on local grape varieties: Biancolella, Forastera, Uvarilla (white) and Piedirosso and Guarnaccia (red). In addition, evidence of attention towards the improvement of the quality of the grapes and the homologation of the old varieties, in 1995 an experimental field was established, a kind of genetic bank for the resumption of disappeared varieties, implanted in the Frassitelli estate.
