THE SOIL

The soils of the Cantina di Vicobarone fall into the four sub-zones identified by the research "Discovering the lands and treasures of Piacenza".
The research was conducted by researchers from the Institute of Fruit-Viticulture at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, the expert pedologists of I.TER, the referents of the Roads of Wines and Flavors, the technical referents of the Geological Reserve of Piacenziano and Road members.

THE TYPES OF SOIL

The clayey lands of the Val Tidone
The clayey lands of the Val Tidone, including the municipal territory of Ziano Piacentino of which Vicobarone is part, represent the westernmost area of the province, on the border with Lombardy. The hilly landscape, between 200 and 400 m above sea level, is characterized by gentle undulating slopes for wine use. The toponymy of some countries, such as Crete and Calcinara, is linked to the particular nature of the soils, which already in Roman times were used to make bricks and bricks, as evidenced by the ancient furnaces present in the area. The workings of the fields highlight the gray color of the earth, which derives from the color of the rock. Soils with a clayey texture predominate, from moderately to very deep, calcareous, moderately alkaline. The high clay content (> 40%) gives the soil good fertility and favors swelling and contraction phenomena. In the rainy seasons, in fact, the clay retains water and increases in volume. With the summer heat, however, the clay dries causing cracks.
The ancient red earths
The ancient red earths in the area of Crete, Castel San Giovanni and Borgonovo, represent a raised plain following the movements of raising the Alpine and Apennine chain. The landscape is composed of large flat or undulating surfaces, between 70 and 350 meters above sea level. These surfaces are called "paleoterrazzi", ancient terraced surfaces formed by the deposition of fluvial sediments occurred thousands of years ago, when the landscape and climate were very different from the current ones. They are characterized by the oldest soils of the entire Emilia-Romagna area. Fodder and vines prevail in the less sloping and flat areas. In the vineyards the rows are typically placed in a north-south direction, so as to expose the grapes to greater sunshine. Being very old soils are defined "paleosoli" and have a reddish tending to orange, well visible in the fields after the plowing of late summer and autumn. Intense evolutionary processes have determined the reddish color, due to the oxidation of the iron and the accumulation of iron-manganesifere concretions of black color.
The lands of the Lower Apennines
The Lands of the Lower Apennines include an important portion of Val Tidone (Pianello, Trevozzo, Genepreto) and are located at altitudes between 250 and 600 meters above sea level. The landscape is characterized by a set of more or less steep undulating slopes, interspersed by the valley floors of the Apennine rivers. Being generally young soils, that is to say little evolved and not very differentiated from the calcareous rocks of origin, they are predominantly very calcareous and moderately alkaline. Agricultural work emphasizes the color of the soils, which are also highly variable depending on the geological origin of the rocks: greyish colors due to the soils formed in the clayey rocks, yellowish-brown colors if formed in the arenaceous rocks and various colors combined in extravagant streaks from purple to greenish to gray in the so-called "varicolored clays" rocks.
The lands of the Middle Apennines
The Lands of the Middle Apennines, which include the territory of the Municipality of Nibbiano, fade towards the hills with a little perceptible limit. The great geological variability of this territory determines a variegated landscape, located between 400 and 1000 m asl, with peaks that exceed even 1200 m. Crops are generally limited to the valley floors and to the less steep and more stable surfaces of the slopes: arable land and large forage fields largely prevail, but there is no lack of vineyards. The soils were formed in materials derived from sedimentary rocks, consisting of calcareous-marly or pelitic-arenaceous stratifications and mainly clayey and marly base complexes and incorporating calcareous, arenaceous and ophiolite rocks. They have a slope that goes from moderately to very steep, ranging from 20 to 70%; they are medium-sized, pebbly or very pebbly in deep, generally well-drained horizons. In steep and very steep soils the forest cover prevails, in large part with coppice oak and chestnut woods. There are frequent fruit chestnuts, often abandoned; also present vineyards.

Bibliography

Ampelographic characterization of the native Piacenza grape varieties - Fregoni, Zamboni, Colla (Catholic University SC, 2002) Guide to the Italian vines - Fabio Giavedoni, Maurizio Gily (Slow Food Editore, 2005, reprint 2010) The wines of Piacenza - Corrado Sforza Fogliani, Serafino Maggi (Chamber of Commerce of Piacenza, 1970) Piacenza Land of Wines - Consortium for the protection of DOC wines Colli Piacentini (1996) Wines and producers of the Colli Piacentini - Stefano Quagliaroli (Wissen, 1995) History and culture of wine: unpublished sources and exemplary cases on Piacenza wine from antiquity to the present - Stefano Pronti (Tip.Le.Co, 2008) On the name of Gutturnio - Flaminio Ghizzoni (Gallarati, 1979) Gutturnium - Serafino Maggi, revised by G. Comolli (Consortium for the protection of Colli wines Piacentini, 1989)
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