Colli Piacentini

The Colli Piacentini ("Hills of Piacenza") is an Italian wine region located at the western end of Emilia-Romagna. In 1967, it was given the Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) quality designation. Within its boundaries are several smaller DOCs including Colli Piacentini Gutturnio, Monterosso Val D'Arda DOC, Trebbianino Val Trebbia DOC and Val Nur del Colli Piacentini DOC. The region has a long history of winemaking with fossilized vine roots and grape seeds excavated from the region showing viticulture taking place as early as 2000 BC. In Roman times, Julius Caesar's father-in-law Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, grew grapes in the Piacenza hills.

The Colli Piacentini was once considered part of the Piedmont wine region. To the northwest is the Lombardy wine region of Oltrepò Pavese and, like Oltrepò Pavese, the wine industry of the Colli Piacentini has had strong historical ties to the wine markets of Milan. The region produces over 17 different wines ranging from Vin Santo dessert wines to slightly sparkling frizzante wines. While the practice of labeling wines by varietal is more often associated with New World wines, winemakers in the Colli Piacentini are permitted by DOC regulations to label some of their wines by varietal.

The Piacenza hills have had a long tradition of practicing viticulture. Archeological excavation of sites in the area have uncovered fossilized vine roots and grape seeds from periods dating from 700 BC to as far back as 2000 BC. During the classical period, the Roman statesman Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus (father-in-law to Julius Caesar), was publicly criticized by his political rival Marcus Tullius Cicero for "excessively enjoying" or honoring the wines from the area. Calpurnius Piso's affinity for the wines of the Colli Piacentini may have stemmed from the fact that he himself, grew grapes in the area and produced wine. In Roman times, the wine from the area was traditionally drunk from a gutturnium—a round jug with two parallel lines of decoration on the outside. The vessel eventually gave its name to the modern Colli Piacentini wine of Gutturnio.

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