Colli di Parma

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Accessory grape varieties

Terroir

• The area is crossed by the valley incision of the river Taro and by the lesser incisions of the torrents Parma and Baganza, running perpendicular to the Apennine ridge.
• In the low-mountain landscape characterised by landslides and badlands (calanchi), the substrate consists predominantly of stratified marls, clays, and sandstones, with moderately steep, deep, well-drained, and calcareous soils.
• In the sector known as the window onto the deep Apennines, the outcropping rocks are turbiditic sandstones attributable to the Formazione Marnoso-Arenacea, and at lower elevations the soils have a medium, predominantly silty texture and are well drained.
• In the landscape of the first hills — the northernmost spur of the Apennine relief reaching toward the plain — the rocks belong predominantly to the Pliocene blue clays (Argille azzurre) formation.
• Mean annual rainfall ranges from 800 mm on the upper plain to 1,200 mm in the higher hill zones, with mean temperatures above 14 °C up to 150 m and approaching 10 °C at the highest elevations of the area.
• The Winkler Index ranges between 2,200 and 2,300 up to approximately 300 m above sea level, decreasing to minimum values approaching 2,000 at the highest elevations of the area.

• On 28 October 1982 the Consorzio Volontario per la Tutela dei Vini dei Colli di Parma was founded, following a period in which viticulture had been marked by phylloxera and the Second World War.
• The historic wines of the zone are the Colli di Parma Rosso obtained from Barbera and Bonarda grapes, the Colli di Parma Malvasia from Malvasia di Candia aromatica grapes, and the Colli di Parma Sauvignon from Sauvignon grapes.
• Around the year 2000 the production regulations were amended to include varieties such as Pinot Nero, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Lambrusco.
• The Riserva designation is granted after 18 months of ageing, of which three in bottle, for Malvasia, Sauvignon, Chardonnay, and Pinot Bianco, and after two years, of which six in bottle, for Rosso, Pinot Nero, Merlot, Cabernet franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Barbera, and Bonarda. (via Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0)

• The moderate summer water deficit up to 300 m elevation favours, in ripening grapes, the concentration of sugars and the synthesis of aromatic compounds.

Facts drawn from the specification's terroir-link section by automatic interpretation — see the source.

All appellations in Italy

Sources

• eAmbrosia register (EU) — File number PDO-IT-A0292
• Official trade body site — Consorzio Volontario Tutela Vini DOP Colli di Parma