Colli Pesaresi DOC | Château Monty

Colli Pesaresi DOC dates from 1972. It covers much of the province of Pesaro e Urbino in the Le Marche region of Italy, between the Adriatic Sea and Montefeltro range of the Apennines. Colli Pesaresi translates as the Pesaro Hills (or Hills of the Pesaro valley). Noted vineyards lie on the on Adriatic sea coastal rises below the border with Romagna near Fiorenzuola di Focara, Pesaro, and Fano, and along the Foglia and Metauro valleys, whose warm conditions and sandy clay soils produce richer wines compared to those from the cooler hills further inland around Urbino and the Montefeltro range which tend to be lighter and sharper (Burton Anderson, 1990, p.173). The wine can be white, pink (‘rosato’) or red with varietally-labelled Sangiovese and Sangiovese novello permitted. The consorzio label carries a portrait of Pesaro’s favourite son, the opera composer and bon vivant Gioacchino Rossini (Burton Anderson: 1990, p.174).

History: A 1595 Treatise by Andrea Bacci, doctor and oenologist called “De naturale vinorum historia” reports that in the Pesaro area “all natural and human conditions favour productivity in places where vineyards are cultivated whose wines are fully appreciated in the Veneto wine towns for their frankness and good preparation.” For Urbino it recalls the diligent cultivation of vines whose wines “are raw, white and red, and those of Moscatelle grapes are drunk with sweets and are present in the cellars of Urbino and its Duke”.

The Pesaro area and the Montefeltro area were subject to Romanization from 295 BC with the victory over the Gauls and the “lex Flaminia” which assigned the land to the veterans of the army. The battle against the Carthaginians of Hasdrubal followed. Pliny refers to “this fertile land, present the vineyards” so much that it describes about a hundred cultivated varieties and wines.

The end of the Roman Empire brought agriculture back to the Marche to be that of mere subsistence. It will be the Church and its structure that brings life back to the territories between the sea and the Apennines where Orders and Abbeys revive agricultural activity no longer limited to subsistence but as an enlightened economic management of the good and the land in which vineyard management is also included and the preparation of wine.

In the medieval period the vine resumed its role in the rural economy and in society. In the Pesaro area the military and human vicissitudes of the two Lords of Urbino and Rimini clash, creating wealth, widespread settlements, agricultural investments, the widespread distribution of the vineyard and the shareholder agreement in the countryside.

Two centuries of decay and normalization follow until the second half of the ‘700 that shows an overall development and in the agricultural landscape appear “the tree- lined” and the “planted” or the passage from the vineyard to the arboretum symbol of promiscuous cultivation

The sharecropping institute, which provided for the settling of the settler on the bottom, spreads throughout the territory because it allows the control of the land, of the crops, the possession of a house, the polyculture, the activation of a rural economy. Grain and vine are the !rst crops that the sharecropper implanted in the territory. The vine is widespread: white and black vines vini!ed separately or together gave a wine that “drank well”.

From this centuries-old history of the Pesaro and Urbino area where agricultural activity has always shown an interest in viticulture comes the request for the appellation of origin. Certainly promiscuous viticulture born from the evolutionary process of the sharecropping contract and from a company !rst dedicated to arms facts and then capable of developing into an agricultural enterprise, sensitive to Bolognese in”uences for the cultivated vines and the types of farming.

Terroir: The geographical area delimited for the production of the “Colli Pesaresi” wines falls in the province of Pesaro e Urbino and is de!ned with the total or partial surface area of 37 municipalities included in the Montefeltro, in the basins of the Metauro and Foglia rivers up to the surface of Mount S Bartolo, which is the o#shoot of the mountain and hilly chain of the Foglia valley inland from the sea. The orography of the delimited area is the Middle and Lower Hill that characterizes the whole Montefeltro and most of the courses of the Metauro and the Foglia. The altitude is between mt. 300 and 600 s.l.m., the average slope is 19%.

The orography of the wide and “at areas of the two valleys is di#erent: Foglia and Metauro after the Monti della Cesana on which Urbino stands.

These areas represent the Homogeneous Area of the Valleys – north, the !rst of the four areas that describe the valleys of the Marche rivers, closely related to the hilly environments that the rivers cross. The altitude of the two valleys is between 50 and 100 meters above sea level. The slopes are about 2% with a normal increase at the edge of the valleys. The soils of the hills have poorly differerentiated profiles, not very deep on hard or sandy rocks. The most advanced soils are always calcareous and also clayey.

In the valley part the soils are not very evolved, stony and calcareous; on the terraces there are differentiated and deep soils, saturated with calcium but not calcareous. On older surfaces there are also deep soils with clay horizons and consequent drainage di$culties. The climatic parameters of the hill show average temperatures of around 14 ° C and a regular seasonal distribution of the rains of about 800 mm per year.

Climate: The climate of the valley is influenced by the sea but retains a significant annual temperature range. The average annual rainfall is 780 mm per year.

Wine by wine: The production area of the wine with the denomination of controlled origin “Colli Pesaresi” red, white, rosé, Sangiovese, Sangiovese novello includes the entire municipal territories of Barchi, Cartoceto, Colbordolo, Fano, Fossombrone, Fratte Rosa, Gabicce Mare, Gradara, Isola del Piano, Montebaroccio, Mondavio, Mondolfo, Montecalvo in Foglia, Monteciccardo, Montefelcino, Montelabbate, Montemaggiore al Metauro, Monteporzio, Orciano di Pesaro, Pergola, Pesaro, Petriano, Piagge, Saltara, San Costanzo, San Giorgio, San Lorenzo in Campo, Sant’Angelo in Lizzola, Sant’Ippolito, Serrungarina and Tavullia, as well as part of the municipal territories of Tavoleto, Auditore, Sassocorvaro, Urbino, Fermignano and Cagli.

Sparkling wines

Colli Pesaresi DOC Spumante: 75-100% Trebbiano Toscano, Albanella, Verdicchio, Biancame, Pinot grigio, Pinot nero (vini!ed as a white), Riesling Italico, Chardonnay, Sauvignon or Pinot bianco (either individually or mixed) plus 0-25% authorised non- aromatic white grapes permitted in the Marche. Note that Albanella was long considered a synonym of Trebbiano Toscana here.

White wines

Colli Pesaresi DOC Bianco: 75-100% Trebbiano Toscano, Albanella, Verdicchio, Biancame, Pinot grigio, Pinot nero (vini!ed as a white), Riesling Italico, Chardonnay, Sauvignon or Pinot bianco (either individually or mixed) plus 0-25% authorised non- aromatic white grapes permitted in the Marche. Note that Albanella was long considered a synonym of Trebbiano Toscana here.

Colli Pesaresi DOC Biancame: 85-100% Biancame plus an optional 0-15% authorised non-aromatic white grapes permitted in the Marche. The production area for Colli Pesaresi DOC Biancame includes the the municipalities of Mondavio, Monte Porzio, Pergola, San Lorenzo in Campo.

Colli Pesaresi DOC Trebbiano: The production area for Colli Pesaresi DOC Trebbiano includes the entire municipal territories of Mombaroccio, Monteciccardo, Petriano, Gabicce Mare, Gradara and Tavullia, as well as part of the municipal territories of Pesaro, Montelabbate, Sant’Angelo in Lizzola, Colbordolo and Urbino as well as the entire administrative islands n.7 (Montelabbate), n.8 (Urbino), and part of n.5 (Tavullia). This production area is divided into two areas separated by the river Foglia. The wine is made from 85-100% Trebbiano Toscano plus an optional 0-15% authorised non-aromatic white grapes permitted in Le Marche.

Pink wines

Colli Pesaresi DOC Rosato (Rosè): 70-100% Sangiovese plus an optional 0-30% authorised non-aromatic res grapes permitted in the Marche.

Red wines

Colli Pesaresi DOC Rosso: 70-100% Sangiovese plus an optional 0-30% authorised non-aromatic res grapes permitted in Le Marche.

Colli Pesaresi DOC Sangiovese: This can be a novello, normale or Riserva. Sangiovese dei Colli Pesaresi is ‘an unsung cousin of Sangiovese di Romagna (Burton Anderson, 1990, p.174). Wine from the Parco Naturale Monte San Bartolo sub-zone may be bottled under that name.

Sub-zone wines

Colli Pesaresi Roncaglia DOC Bianco: The production area of the Colli Pesaresi Roncaglia DOC includes part of the territory delimited for Colli Pesaresi Bianco. This also has a Riserva version.

Colli Pesaresi Focara DOC Rosso: The production area of the Colli Pesaresi Focara DOC includes part of the territory delimited for the production of Colli Pesaresi Rosso. 50-100% Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Merlot (either individually or mixed) plus 0-50% Sangiovese plus 0-25% authorised non-aromatic red grapes permitted in the Marche. A Riserva version is permitted.

Colli Pesaresi Focara DOC Pinot nero DOC: 90-100% Pinot Noir plus 0-10% authorised non-aromatic red grapes permitted in the Marche. Riserva, Spumante and white versions exists.

Colli Pesaresi Roncaglia DOC Pinot nero: Pinot noir.

Colli Pesaresi Parco Naturale Monte San Bartolo DOC: The production area of the Colli Pesaresi Parco Naturale Monte San Bartolo DOC includes land in Pesaro e Urbino province.

Pink wines

Colli Pesaresi DOC Rosato (Rosè): 70-100% Sangiovese plus an optional 0-30% authorised non-aromatic res grapes permitted in the Marche.

Red wines

Colli Pesaresi DOC Rosso: 70-100% Sangiovese plus an optional 0-30% authorised non-aromatic red grapes permitted in Le Marche.

Colli Pesaresi DOC Sangiovese: This can be a novello, normale or Riserva. Sangiovese dei Colli Pesaresi is ‘an unsung cousin of Sangiovese di Romagna (Burton Anderson, 1990, p174). Wine from the Parco Naturale Monte San Bartolo sub-zone may be bottled under that name.

Sub-Zone wines

Colli Pesaresi Roncaglia DOC Bianco: The production area of the Colli Pesaresi Roncaglia DOC includes part of the territory delimited for Colli Pesaresi Bianco. This also has a Riserva version.

Colli Pesaresi Focara DOC Pinot nero DOC: 90-100% Pinot Noir plus 0-10% authorised non-aromatic red grapes permitted in the Marche. Riserva, Spumante and white versions exists.

Colli Pesaresi Roncaglia DOC Pinot nero: Pinot noir.

Colli Pesaresi Parco Naturale Monte San Bartolo DOC: The production area of the Colli Pesaresi Parco Naturale Monte San Bartolo DOC includes land in Pesaro e Urbino province.

Wineries

Certified organic: Bruscia.

Bibliography

Burton Anderson, Vino – The Wines and Winemakers of Italy (London, 1982). Burton Anderson, The Wine Atlas of Italy(Mitchell Beazley, 1990) p.171-179.

Disciplinare di produzione della denominazione di origine controllata dei vini Colli Pesaresi.