he hills of the Oltrepò Pavese are located on the right bank of the river Po in an area bounded by the provinces of Alessandria, Genoa and Piacenza. Winemaking has been practiced in the Oltrepò Pavese for at least 3,000 years, as is established by the imprint of a cluster of grapes on a sandstone rock discovered in the district.Dealing in the Oltrepò's wines was already a flourishing activity by the Middle Ages. Loaded on large boats, the wines were floated down the rivers Po and Ticino to the market of Pavia. Shipments were organized by monks, who also saw to the unloading and storing of the boats' cargoes in the city's convents.
From Pavia, a substantial share of the wine was sent by convoy to Milan, which represented a major center of consumption. Medieval chroniclers reported, in fact, that in 1288 as many as 6,000 carts of wine would enter Milan at a time. It is estimated that such shipments amounted to about three million liters.
To check the heavy consumption of wine in Milan, municipal authorities promulgated an edict in 1263 that prohibited "the selling of wine except for two hours a day, one hour before and one hour after the ringing of the bell of the Commune...to curb the disorders caused by the unbridled license in drinking wine in the taverns."
Production in the Oltrepò, an inexhaustible reservoir of wine, is now regulated by a single discipline that covers a range of 20 different types.
