Collina del Milanese

Styles

Principal grape varieties

Terroir

• According to one hypothesis, the Collina del Milanese is an outlier of the Apennines whose connecting ridge was severed by the river Po, while another hypothesis holds that it emerged in the post-Miocene era, owing to its coralliferous nature, as evidenced by finds of corals and shells.
• The hill rises on average 75 metres above the surrounding plain, with gradients that can exceed 30%, and extends 7 km from east to west with a width of approximately 2 km.
• The southern slope of the hill is composed of several valleys elongated toward the Po as a result of direct erosion, while the northern side, toward the Lambro, presents a more uniform profile.
• Over 90% of the surface area consists of ancient terraces raised above the plain with coarse fluvioglacial materials and of terraces set lower than the former, with a southern portion of fine fluvial sediments between Miradolo Terme and Monteleone.
• The climate is typical of the Po Valley, with mean annual rainfall of approximately 700–800 mm, at its lowest in summer and winter and at its highest in spring and autumn.
• Soils range from moderately deep to deep, with textures from fine to moderately coarse, sparse surface skeleton, reaction ranging from alkaline to sub-acid along the slope, moderate active limestone content, and medium to high cation exchange capacity.

• Viticulture on the Collina del Milanese dates back to Roman times and accounts for the numerous archaeological finds of small settlements scattered across the entire area, particularly near the east-facing slopes of the hill.
• In the Middle Ages the area's vocation for vine-growing was strengthened by the Irish saint San Colombano, who revived the zone after the decline that followed the fall of the Roman Empire.
• A document of 918 AD attests that Emperor Conrad I mentioned the wine-growing area of the Collina del Milanese.
• In 1396 Gian Galeazzo Visconti founded the Certosa di Pavia, incorporating 1,290 hectares of the Banina zone.
• At the beginning of the seventeenth century viticulture was well established: 8/10 of the territory was planted to vines, with a mean annual production of approximately 20,000 hl of wine.

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 PGI-IT-A1053
• Official trade body site — Consorzio Volontario Vino DOC San Colombano