The Colli Piacentini ("Hills of

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

") are an

Italian wine Italian wine () is produced in every region of Italy. Italy is the country with the widest variety of indigenous grapevine in the world, with an area of under vineyard cultivation, as well as the List of wine-producing regions#Countries, world's ...

region located at the western end of

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

. In 1967, the region was given the ''

denominazione di origine controllata The following four classification of wine, classifications of wine constitute the Italy, Italian system of labelling and legally protecting Italian wine: * ''Denominazione di origine'' (DO, rarely used; ; 'designation of origin'); * ''Indicazione ...

'' (DOC) quality designation. Within its boundaries are several smaller DOCs including Colli Piacentini Gutturnio, Monterosso Val D'Arda DOC, Trebbianino Val Trebbia DOC, and Val Nur del Colli Piacentini DOC.T. Stevenson ''"The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia"'' pp. 290-291 Dorling Kindersley 2005 The region has a long history of

winemaking Winemaking, wine-making, or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its Ethanol fermentation, fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over ...

with fossilized vine roots and grape seeds excavated from the region showing

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

taking place as early as 2000 BC.Italian Made '
Colli Piacentini DOC
"'' Italian Trade Commission, Accessed: December 14th, 2009 In

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

times,

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

's father-in-law Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, grew grapes in the Piacenza hills.T. Stevenson ''"The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia"'' pg 290-291 Dorling Kindersley 2005 The Colli Piacentini region was once considered part of the Piedmont wine region. To the northwest is the

Lombardy wine Lombardy wine is the Italian wine produced in the Lombardy region of north central Italy. The region is known particularly for its sparkling wines made in the Franciacorta and Oltrepò Pavese areas. Lombardy also produces still red, white and ros ...

region of

Oltrepò Pavese The Oltrepò Pavese (; ; ) is a historical region making up the southern portion of the province of Pavia, in the northwest Italian region of Lombardy. The area is named after its location south of the Po (river), River Po as considered from th ...

and, like Oltrepò Pavese, the wine industry of the Colli Piacentini has had strong historical ties to the wine markets of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

. The region produces over 17 different wines ranging from ''

Vin Santo Vin Santo (; ) is a style of Italian dessert wine. Traditional in Tuscany, these wines are often made from white grape varieties such as Trebbiano and Malvasia, although Sangiovese may be used to produce a rosé style known as "Occhio di Pernic ...

dessert wine Dessert wines, sometimes called pudding wines in the United Kingdom, are sweet wines typically served with dessert. There is no simple definition of a dessert wine. In the UK, a dessert wine is considered to be any sweet wine drunk with a mea ...

s to slightly sparkling ''frizzante'' wines. While the practice of labeling wines by

varietal A varietal wine is a wine made primarily from a single named grape variety, and which typically displays the name of that variety on the wine label.The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000.winepros.com.au. ...

is more often associated with

New World wines New World wines are those wines produced outside the traditional winegrowing areas of Europe and the Middle East, in particular from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Japan (primarily Tokachi), Mexico, New Zealand, South Africa and the ...

, winemakers in the Colli Piacentini are permitted by DOC regulations to label some of their wines by varietal.M. Ewing-Mulligan & E. McCarthy ''Italian Wines for Dummies'' pg 103-105 Hungry Minds 2001

History

The Piacenza hills have a long tradition of viticulture. Archeological excavation of sites in the area has uncovered fossilized vine roots and grape seeds dating from 700 to 2000 BC. During the classical period, the Roman statesman Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus (father-in-law to Julius Caesar), was publicly criticized by his political rival

Marcus Tullius Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

for "excessively enjoying" or honoring the wines from the area.Official Site
Comune di Piacenza
"'' Accessed: December 15th, 2009 Calpurnius Piso's affinity for the wines of the Colli Piacentini may have stemmed from the fact that he himself grew grapes and produced wine in the area. In Roman times, the wine from the area was traditionally drunk from a '' gutturnium''—a round jug with two parallel lines of decoration on the outside. The vessel eventually gave its name to the modern Colli Piacentini wine of Gutturnio. During the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, wine from the Colli Piacentini had a favorable reputation and was even being exported to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In the late 14th century, local officials instituted a series of regulations on winemaking and grape growing aimed at reducing the potential for

wine fraud Wine fraud relates to the commercial aspects of wine. The most prevalent type of fraud is one where wines are adulterated, usually with the addition of cheaper products (e.g. juices) and sometimes with harmful chemicals and sweeteners (compensatin ...

and maintaining standards of quality. In the 16th century, the official cellar master to

Pope Paul III Pope Paul III (; ; born Alessandro Farnese; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death, in November 1549. He came to the papal throne in an era follo ...

praised the wine for its quality in his writings on the wines of the world.

Climate and geography

The Colli Piacentini DOC covers 9,000 acres (3,600 hectares) of hilly terrain in what was historically part of the Emilia province.P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pp. 148-149 Firefly Books 2004 The DOC is flanked to the east by the Autostrada A1 connecting Milan to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and to the west/northwest by

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

, and

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

. To the southeast is the Colli di Parma DOC centered on the city of

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. Many of the vineyards of the Colli Piacentini are planted on the rolling hills leading up to the northern slopes of the

Apennine Mountains The Apennines or Apennine Mountains ( ; or Ἀπέννινον ὄρος; or – a singular with plural meaning; )Latin ''Apenninus'' (Greek or ) has the form of an adjective, which would be segmented ''Apenn-inus'', often used with nouns s ...

. The

vineyard soils The soil composition of vineyards is one of the most important viticulture, viticultural considerations when planting grape vines. The soil supports the root structure of the vine and influences the drainage levels and amount of minerals and nutrie ...

are composed of a mix of

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

marl Marl is an earthy material rich in carbonate minerals, Clay minerals, clays, and silt. When Lithification, hardened into rock, this becomes marlstone. It is formed in marine or freshwater environments, often through the activities of algae. M ...

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is usually defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

from the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58

Sub-regions

Within the Colli Piacentini are a number of sub-regions that are allowed to affix their own DOCs to the

wine label Wine labels are important sources of information for consumers since they tell the type and origin of the wine. The label is often the only resource a buyer has for evaluating the wine before purchasing it. Certain information is ordinarily inclu ...

. The most famous of these is the Gutturnio DOC, with a wine made predominantly from

Barbera Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy (after Sangiovese and Montepulciano). It produces good yields and is known for deep color, full body, low tannins and high levels ...

, which is the only main sub-region dedicated to red wine production. The other sub-regions are white wine DOCs, including Trebbianino Val Trebbia, which despite its similar-sounding name, is not made predominantly from

Trebbiano Trebbiano is an Italian wine grape, one of the most widely planted grape varieties in the world. It gives good yields, but tends to yield undistinguished wine. It can be fresh and fruity, but does not keep long. Also known as ugni blanc, it ...

but rather the obscure local grape Ortruga, though up to 30% of the specific clonal variety of Trebbiano Romagnolo can be blended in. The two other white wine DOCs are Val Nur and Monterosso Val d'Arda. *Gutturnio - The most famous wine of the Colli Piacentini, its name historically derived from the traditional ''gutturnium'' jug that people drank the wine from. It is a blend of 55-70% Barbera, with

Croatina Croatina is a red Italian wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Oltrepò Pavese region of Lombardy and in the Province of Piacenza within Emilia Romagna, but also in parts of Piedmont and the Veneto. In the Oltrepò Pavese, in the hil ...

filling out the rest of the blend. It can be produced in a variety of styles ranging from dry to slightly sweet and from still to slightly sparkling. Under the DOC's regulations,

harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

yields are restricted to a maximum of 12

tonnes The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

per hectare, and the

alcohol level Alcohol by volume (abbreviated as alc/vol or ABV) is a common measure of the amount of alcohol contained in a given alcoholic beverage. It is defined as the volume the ethanol in the liquid would take if separated from the rest of the solution, ...

of the wines must reach a minimum of 12%.P. Saunders ''Wine Label Language'' pg 148-149 Firefly Books 2004 *Trebbianino Val Trebbia - This white wine DOC is based primarily on the Ortruga grape which usually composes half the blend. The remaining components may include 10-30% of

Malvasia di Candia Malvasia (), also known as Malvazia, is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region and Macaronesia, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. In the past, the names Malvasia, Malvazia, ...

and/or Moscato Bianco, 15-30% of Trebbiano Romagnolo and/or

Sauvignon blanc Sauvignon blanc () is a green-skinned grape variety that originates from the city of Bordeaux in France. The grape most likely gets its name from the French words ''sauvage'' ("wild") and ''blanc'' ("white") due to its early origins as an ind ...

and a maximum of 15% mix of other permitted white grape varieties grown in the Colli Piacentini. Harvest yields are restricted to 9 tonnes per hectare and alcohol levels need to be a minimum of 11%. The wines range from dry to semi-dry and can be still, slightly sparkling, or even fully sparkling or ''

spumante Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While it is common to refer to this as champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that word for products exclusively produced in the Champagne ( ...

'' style. *Monterosso Val d'Arda - This white wine DOC has similar requirements as Trebbianino except that the Ortruga grape plays a smaller role in the blend. The blend for this wine is composed of 35-50% Malvasia di Candia, 20-35% of Ortruga and Trebbiano Romagnolo, 10-30% Moscato and up to 20% of Sauvignon blanc and Bervedino. Harvest yields are restricted to a maximum of 9 tonnes per hectare and alcohol levels must reach a minimum of 11%. The wines range from dry to semi-dry and can be still, slightly sparkling or even fully sparkling or ''spumante'' style. *Val Nur - This white wine DOC has similar requirements as Trebbianino except that use of Moscato is prohibited. The primary grape varieties are 30-50% Malvasia di Candia, 20-35% Ortrugo and 20-35% Trebbiano Romagnolo with up to a 15% mix of other permitted white grape varieties grown in the Colli Piacentini. Harvest yields are restricted to a maximum of 10 tonnes per hectare and a minimum alcohol level of 11%. The wines range from dry to semi-dry and can be still, slightly sparkling or even fully sparkling or ''spumante'' style.

Grapes and wine style

A wide range of

grape varieties This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, currant, sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimportant to agriculture, see ''V ...

and wine styles are produced in the Colli Piacentini. In addition to red and white wines,

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the Macerati ...

''rosato'' styles are produced. The sweetness level of the wines can range from bone dry ''asciutto'', very dry ''amaro'', dry ''secco'', slightly sweet ''abboccato'', sweet ''amabile'', medium-sweet ''pastoso'' to very sweet ''dolce''. The wines can also vary widely in their degree of

carbonation Carbonation is the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide to give carbonates, bicarbonates, and carbonic acid. In chemistry, the term is sometimes used in place of carboxylation, which refers to the formation of carboxylic acids. In inorganic che ...

or "sparkling", ranging from still, very lightly sparkling ''frizzantino'', slightly sparkling ''frizzante'' to fully sparkling ''spumante''. A ''Vin Santo'' style wine can be made from dried grapes as well as young ''novello'' or " nouveau wines" released only a few months after harvest. One producer in the Colli Piacentini even produces rare sweet fully sparkling

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebano ...

and

Merlot Merlot ( ) is a dark-blue-colored wine grape variety that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

. In a manner that is fairly unusual in

Old World wine Old World wine refers primarily to wine made in Europe but can also include other regions of the Mediterranean basin with long histories of winemaking such as North Africa and the Near East. The phrase is often used in contrast to " New World w ...

regions, a few wines in the Colli Piacentini can be varietally labeled with the grape's name appearing on the front of the wine label. This privilege is restricted to only a few grape varieties namely

Pinot nero Pinot noir (), also known as Pinot nero, is a red-wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. The name also refers to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes. The name is derived from the French language, French words fo ...

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, ; ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

Malvasia Malvasia (), also known as Malvazia, is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region and Macaronesia, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. In the past, the names Malvasia, Malvazia, ...

Ortrugo Ortrugo is a white Italian wine grape variety that is grown in the Piacenza hills of the Emilia-Romagna region of north central Italy. Here the grape is often blended with Malvasia in the DOC white wines of the area.J. Robinson ''Jancis Robinson's ...

Pinot grigio Pinot gris, pinot grigio (, ), or ''Grauburgunder'' is a white wine , white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the pinot noir variety, it normally has a pinkish-gray hue, accounting for its ...

and

. In order to qualify for this permission, a wine must be composed of at least 85% of the grape that is to appear on the label. An exception is the local grape Ortrugo which must compose at least 90% of the wine. Among the other grape varieties grown in the Colli Piacentini, which can not be varietally labeled, are Trebbiano Romagnolo, Bervedino,

Verdeca Verdeca is a white Italian wine grape variety that is primarily grown in Apulia in southern Italy where ampelographers believe that the grape may have originated. In Apulia, it is one of the main grapes in the ''Denominazione di origine controll ...

and Moscato bianco.

References

{{reflist Italian DOC Geography of Emilia-Romagna Province of Piacenza