Consortium CDO wines Colli Piacentini

Exit the 'Autostrada dei Vini' motorway in Castel San Giovanni and head towards the hills around Borgonovo. You will meet the first vineyards along the road to Ziano, the capital of the Tidone valley wines with over 750 estates. From there the road continues through lush green hills covered in vineyards and takes you to the villages of Seminò, Vicobarone and Montalbo. It then goes downhill to Pianello, an important agricultural centre. The Tidone valley boasts many estates that combine traditional vine-growing with the latest technologies, producing young and fresh sparkling wines with an aromatic and fruity nose.

Hemingway thought it was one of the most beautiful valleys in Italy, he was right. All the villages in the Trebbia valley are well worth a visit. Heading towards the hills, you will meet the first vine-growing and winemaking estates in Rivergaro. The area around Perino, Donceto and Travo is also heavily planted with vineyards. Its slopes exposed to sunlight are particularly suitable for growing white grapes for the CDO wine Trebbianino Val Trebbia. Going further up the valley, you will finally reach Bobbio, a small town steeped in history that produces good quality wines.

Heading from the Po Valley towards the hills, you arrive to Grazzano Visconti, a charming reproduction of a medieval village. Going up the hills, on the right-hand side, you will see a number of well-known estates. The Nure valley is renowned for its noble CDO wines, like Valnure, Gutturnio, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Nero, and a particular type of Vin Santo. Going through Vigolzone and Albarola, you will reach the heart of the Nure valley, a village called Pontedell'Olio, whose name goes back to the times when it was a buying and selling market for the olive oil coming from Liguria and going to the towns of the Po Valley. At that time, Pontedell’Olio was also a flourishing market for wine.

The itinerary suggested here starts from Castelvetro Piacentino; it reaches Fiorenzuola and Alseno in the Po Valley and then heads towards Bacedasco Alto and its vineyards. The surrounding area is full of family-run wine-making estates. Further up the valley, you reach Castell'Arquato, called the 'Assisi of Emilia Romagna', an old medieval village built on a rock overlooking the river Arda. In the nearby village of Vigoleno, local wine-makers produce their own Vin Santo, aged for at least 5 years (4 of which in wooden barrels). The whole area is also renowned for its white CDO wine Monterosso Val D'Arda, as well as for its Gutturnio, Malvasia and Ortrugo.