The Oltrepò Pavese is the southern tip of Lombardy, a triangle of hills in the province of Pavia rising from the Po towards the Apennines. Pinot Nero has been grown here for over a century, and the traditional method is its most ambitious expression. The appellation was born as a DOC in 1970 and became a DOCG in 2007; dedicated vineyards cover about 204 hectares, with an output of 3,925 hectolitres. At the end of the twentieth century a zoning study identified four territorial units with different soil and climate characteristics.
Pinot Nero at the centre
The Metodo Classico and the Rosé require at least 70% Pinot Nero, with Chardonnay, Pinot Bianco and Pinot Grigio up to 30%. The Pinot Nero, white or rosé, requires at least 85%. The rosé version of Pinot Nero may be called Cruasé, a name registered by the consortium, though little used. Minimum alcohol is 11.5%.
The sparkling wines spend at least 15 months on the lees and cannot be released before 1 April of the second year after the harvest; the Millesimato at least 24 months. A new name, Classese, has also been approved at regional level, but still needs national and European approval.
A long history
A prehistoric vine shoot was found near Casteggio. In the first century Strabo judged the area's wines to be of quality and credited the local growers with inventing the barrel. In the late sixteenth century Andrea Bacci mentioned the Pinolo, Pignolo gentile and Pignolo grappolato grapes, from which today's Pinot Nero may derive; it was identified in the area in the second half of the nineteenth century, together with 225 other native varieties. Minister Agostino Depretis, Count Carlo Giorgi di Vistarino and Carlo Gancia promoted its planting.
In the glass and at the table
Oltrepò sparkling wines have a fine mousse, aromas of bread crust, small red fruits and citrus, and a structure that comes from Pinot Nero. They are wines for aperitifs and the whole meal: raw fish, risottos, cured meats such as Varzi salame, white meats. For the area's still wines there is the Oltrepò Pavese DOC; for comparison with Lombardy's other traditional-method wine, Franciacorta.
