Wednesday 4 June 2008

Wine-paradise

13.269 grape-cultivated hectares. The "Oltrepò Pavese" (South of the River Pò) area, with a total of 42 villages located on the hills, is the 3rd most important area in Italy for D.O.C. wines after the Chianti and Asti areas. The morphological structures are mainly two: the lands on the low hills, made of marine sedimentary rocks with a high level of clay, and the higher lands containing gypsum. Both these terrains perfectly guarantee the typological features of different red and white wines produced in this area.

17 comments:

Rosie said...

Wow...
This is such an interesting post. I love Chianti, love Italy, love country life, love photography and blogging.
Can't ask for more, can I?

Diederick Wijmans said...

You are perfectly right, Rose! I cannot agree more!

Patrizia said...

The Oltrepo' Pavese is a wonderful region; I was there a couple of times many years ago.


Thanks for visiting my blog. Do you live in Arona? Arona is beautiful, I've been there many times!

Anonymous said...

The beauty of the countryside is so obvious in this photograph. You got all the details just right in this photograph.

Lezard said...

THanks for visiting The Hague Daily Photo!
Nice photograph of hilly valleys, the kind we absolutely miss in the Netherlands. Not a bad change from The Hague to have moved to Arona!

Diederick Wijmans said...

Thank you, Patrizia! Yes, the Oltrepò is very special. Yes, I live in Arona, another beautiful part of Northern Italy.

Thank you, Abraham! Yes, I could not go wrong with this photo. In reality the beauty of this area is breathtaking!

Hello Lezard! You will find some hilly landscape in Limburg, but not so covered with vineyards.

Marie-Noyale said...

I don't know this part of Italy, but you sure make it very tempting!!
Beutiful rolling hills under the sun,
producing at the end of the summer wonderful Grape juices!!!!

JaamZIN said...

I like everything around grapeyards and wine. Places like this have special atmosphere.

Rob said...

South of the river Po, would this be Emilia Romanga region? Pretty picturesque scenery. Anxious ot view more from this region.

Reminds my of our trip to Tuuscany where we sampled chianti at Castel Verrazzano. My wife and I enjoy chianti classico, but are are thrilled with a bottle of Valpolicella.

Josy said...

Whew. What a landscape!

Forgive my ignorance, but what's a D.O.C. wine?

Diederick Wijmans said...

Thank you, Marie! Wonderful grape-juices at the end of the summer with the great harvest-festivities before that.

Indeed, Zsolt, the atmosphere is magical in this area. Although I have retired from work alltogether, I give one of the main local wineries back-up for export, for which I earn great quantities of exclusive wines.

South of the River Pò in this part still means Lombardy, in the Province of Pavia. Emilia Romagna is not far anyway, Dusty Lens!
Tuscany with its wonderful landscape produces indeed quite some excellent wines, which are more welknown around the world than the ones produced in the Oltrepò Pavese area, but I am personally doing my very best to promote these abroad for an important local wine-producer.
This, because I have a mere passion for wines and everything related to it.

"D.O.C". (Denominazione di Origine Controllata), stands for Protected Designations of Origin
(PDO)- some can be D.O.C.G.: the "G" stands for Guaranteed.
Thanks for visiting my blog, Josy!

Thanks all of you!

Diederick Wijmans said...

Thank you,Maria Isabel!

(By the way, also My wife's family name is Guerra: they originally come from Spain).

Suzanne said...

Thanks for the follow-up photo. I lived in Torino while I was there for nine years so know the River Po well but now when we go back to Italy, it is to Rimini and we have travelled the road between many times. Everyone who thinks of Italy thinks of Tuscany but every part of Italy has its own beauty.

Diederick Wijmans said...

Thank you, Suzanne!
Next time you go and visit your friends in Turin and your husband's relatives in Rimini, the Oltrepò Pavese area is close to the Turin-Piacenza highway, so you cannot miss it!

Halcyon said...

Wine... yum!

Fabrizio Zanelli said...

You said: ""This, because I have a mere passion for wines and everything related to it."" Well Blognote, I'm the second here :-) also because my father was born quite near Canelli (moscato d'asti)

Diederick Wijmans said...

Thank you Halcyon!

Grazie Fabrizio! The Asti area is also so very beautiful...! And then the excellent wines: Barbera, Docetto and Chardonnay...