The territory Stories of land emerging from the sea and shaped by the river
The making of a region
Roero lies beyond the left bank of the Tanaro river, and is a geologically recent area of marine origin. It was once the seabed of an inland sea known as the Po Gulf, at a time when the Venetian Adriatic Sea expanded into today’s Po plain.
The name Roero derives from the noble family of the Roero Counts, feudal lords of these lands since the thirteenth century, who enriched the area with towers, castles and beautiful palaces.
Formation of the hills
The Roero hills emerged 2 million years ago. The Langhe and Roero were a single high plateau back then, and the Tanaro flowed north. Roughly 250,000 years ago, as a result of river floods and inflows, another river began to erode the friable Roero soil, eventually “trapping” the Tanaro river and diverting its course towards its present Alba – Asti direction, thereby dividing the Langhe and Roero areas.
The DOC Roero was born in 1985 and became DOCG in 2005. One of a kind, it includes a white version, produced with Arneis grapes and a red version, from Nebbiolo grapesCarlo Deltetto
The Rocche
Erosion caused by the new Tanaro tributaries began to carve the Roero soil, creating the Rocche, sandstone canyons rich in gorges, spires and steep peaks that mark the rift between the old and new river valley. The Rocche, criss-crossed by a grid of natural trails, are thus extraordinary vantage points that characterise the Roero landscape. The geological stratification of the Rocche has many features, often containing fossil evidence, which allow dating the layers and bear witness to the evolution of the Roero’s environmental and climatic conditions during the millions of years that preceded their formation.
Roero and The Langhe
The two Tanaro banks differ in their geological origins, which affects the properties of the produced wines. Roero has an alluvial soil originated by the Pliocene, characterized by sandstone, a rock made of sand and limestone. This soft and mineral-rich soil is perfect for whites and reds, producing fragrant, complex yet very elegant wines. The Langhe, of the more ancient Miocene origin, are characterized by a more compact soil, made up of clays and marls. This is particularly well suited for producing full-bodied red wines in the Barolo area.
The hills of the Roero, on the left bank of the Tanaro, are a mosaic of very different soils, with sand and alluvial debris.
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