Oltrepò Pavese, all the colours of Pinot noir

Oltrepò pavese All the colours of Pinot Noir

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he Consorzio Tutela Vini Oltrepò Pavese protects, develops and promotes the winemaking talent of a historic wine-producing area. It was created by an association of producers, officially founded on 4th August 1960, with the aim of developing and protecting Oltrepò wines. Its slogan was “Here, wine is wine”. In 1977 the Consortium became the Consorzio Volontario Vini Doc Oltrepò Pavese with Antonio Giuseppe Denari as its first president; an illustrious and far-sighted protagonist of one of the most important historical moments in Italian winemaking. Since then, the Consortium has extended the areas it works in, in concert with institutional bodies such as the Ministry of Agriculture. The Consortium particularly strives to protect the products and their quality, with particular attention to their origin. Today the Consortium is about communication, marketing strategies, but it also champions regional identity, that is economy, history and culture.

Oltrepò Pavese, the agricultural soul of Lombardy

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hat is Oltrepò Pavese? It is the extreme point of the region of Lombardy, in the Province of Pavia, lying south of the river Po. It is roughly triangular in shape, like a kind of compact grape bunch attached to a cane, represented by the great river. The base part of this “bunch” is flat land and therefore discarded as being unsuitable for vine growing, as is the top part because it is excessively mountainous. All of the remaining central part is the undisputed hilly kingdom, with sometimes gentle but often steep slopes, that is Oltrepò’s winemaking area: a land where man has grown vines and made wine since the dawn of time. he 13,500 hectares of vineyards make Oltrepò Pavese Italy’s third largest appellation. In this infinite sea of vineyards there are several different varieties but the unquestioned prince is Pinot Noir: with a surface area of about 3,000 hectares it is the largest area in Italy dedicated to this variety.

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Pinot noir, a multi-faceted variety expressing different ‘colours’

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ome ampelographers suggest that ancestral genotypes of Pinot Noir have been present in the hills of Oltrepò since Roman times. More definite sources date back to the sixteenth century, but it was in the second half of the nineteenth century that Count Carlo Giorgi di Vistarino successfully planted several hectares of French clones at his Rocca de’ Giorni estate. It was the beginning of an adventure that would involve the whole region, setting it apart as an excellent area for producing traditional method sparkling wines; in 1912 the “Gran spumante SVIC” advertisement (SVIC or Società Vinicola Italiana di Casteggio, ‘Italian Wine-producing Company of Casteggio’) stood next to the Statue of Liberty in New York, to the emotion of arriving immigrants. Then followed feverish months and numerous acknowledgements obtained by several winery brands, the first being ‘La Versa’. The ‘Oltrepò Pavese’ DOC arrived in 1970, followed by the ‘Oltrepò Pavese Metodo Classico’ DOCG and the ‘Pinot Nero dell’Oltrepò Pavese’ DOC in 2010, the latter for still red wine. So if we translate wines into colours, the ‘chromatic’ possibilities of Pinot Noir in Oltrepò are endless; they range from white to red, but the most original expression is the pink bubbly, a recent creation with ancient origins!

Cruasé, the flagship brand of the region

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he creation of the Oltrepò Pavese Metodo Clasicco DOCG led to a debate which identified rosé as a real strong point. This wine is emblematic of the region, the grape variety and the noblest sparkling wine making method, all at the same time. The decision to make a rosé united the very individual nature of this bubbly together with the value of naturalness (lightly crushing Pinot Noir naturally generated a pinkish-coloured must), therefore the Consortium decided to reinforce it by endowing it with an immediately recognisable brand for the consumer, ‘Cruasé’. ‘Cruasé’, (from ‘cru’ and rosé) defines the traditional method rosé made from Pinot Noir grapes in Oltrepò Pavese and today this product distinguishes the area from other traditional method sparkling wine-making areas, both in Italy and abroad. It is made as ‘Brut’, ‘Extrabrut’ and ‘Brut Nature’ and rests on the lees for at least 18 months; ideal with all courses of a meal, excellent with appetisers and finger food or as an original and seductive aperitif.

Over a century of traditional method white wine making

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lready at the start of the twentieth century in Oltrepò, Pinot Noir was being made into large quantities of sparkling white wine, the most common wine type in the world using the traditional method. The result was a product that stood out from the spectrum of bubblies for the backbone and austerity of the variety, much appreciated by connoisseurs and more or less intensely softened by the contribution of yeasts during the long years of lees contact (vintage wines).

Pinot Noir as a red, a noble but difficult choice

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ptimising the fermentation of Pinot Noir on the skins, done by some wineries at the start of the 1950s, led to the creation of the ‘Pinot nero dell’Oltrepò pavese’ DOC in 2010, wholly dedicated to this still wine. Vinification of Pinot Noir with skin contact, as winemakers all over the world know well, is beset with tensions and often disappointment, but heralds the most amazing successes when all the elements of the suitability of the winemaking area are expressed. A difficult challenge that allows Oltrepò to compete with areas of the world where bottles epitomise the legend of the wine itself.

The world of Pinot Noir

Bereguardo exit

Pavia Stradella

A7 Casteggio exit

HOW TO GET TO OLTREPÒ PAVESE

Broni-Stradella exit

Casei Gerola exit

Casteggio Broni

A21

Canneto Pavese Voghera

Varzi

Santa Maria Della Versa

Torrazza Coste

A7 Milano - Genova motorway: Casei Gerola exit, follow signs for Voghera The hill roads are accessible by car, motorbike, bus and camper van.

Train stations: Pavia Voghera Stradella Airports: Milan Linate Milan Malpensa Milan-Bergamo (Orio al Serio) Genoa

Milan

Turin

A21 Torino - Piacenza motorway: Broni exit, follow signs for Stradella

45° Parallelo

Genoa

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Bologna

Distances from the main cities: Milan (60 km) Turin (150 km) Genoa (110 km) Bologna (200 km)

Consorzio Tutela Vini Oltrepò Pavese piazza Vittorio Veneto 24 - 27043 Broni (PV) tel. 0385 250261 fax 0385 54339 www.vinoltrepo.it