The survival of viticulture and the art of wine-making after the barbarian invasions that followed the fall of the Roman Empire, was mainly thanks to the monks who, in order to protect their monasteries, had continued to pass down the art of vine cultivation and the production of wine necessary for the celebration of the Eucharist. In the area today defined as \u201cCollina Torinese\u201d or the \u201cTorino hills\u201d, this responsibility remained with the Augustine monks of Vezzolano Abbey who spread cultivation throughout the surrounding area. When talking about wines from the province of Torino it is impossible to not refer to the 606 writings of Giovanni Battista Croce, \u201cThe excellence and diversity of wines from the Torino mountain (sic) region and their cultivation and production\u201d. Being a an eclectic character with the Court of Savoy, moonlighting as a goldsmith, architect, agriculturist and wine-maker with a Milanese heritage, Croce greatly contributed to the growth of vineyards and wines of the area. Even if Croce doesn\u2019t make specific references to \u201cFreisa\u201d in his writings, perhaps due to local dialect discrepancies, other numerous varietals such as \u201cCario\u201d and \u201cMalvagie\u201d (\u201cCari\u201d and \u201cMalvasia\u201d), along with<\/p>\n
\u201cCandia\u201d, found space in his vineyards of Val San Martino and Val Salice. The interest shown by the Court in these wines stimulated the rapid development of rows around middle-class properties and country houses owned by Queen Madama Reale Cristina of France. Wine-making was not large scale at this time but it<\/p>\n
was more family-based whilst greater appreciation of the art of cultivating grape vines with better equipped cellars for wine-making and storage still covered only family needs. These vines, probably cultivated principally in Freisa, were publicly registered as \u201cvinee ultra padum\u201d, or \u201cwines beyond the Po (River)\u201d. As time passed with the changes of ownership, winemaking became a commercial activity. This type of wine-making is still the norm for the Torino hills today. The hills, which serve as the true \u201ctrait d\u2019union\u201d between Torino and Monferrato and the passage way to the enchanting land of rolling hills, medieval villages and noble land, constitute the undisputed princely territory called Freisa which, following the DOC recognition, has loaned its name to a similar wine from the Chierese area since 973. This was delayed until 999 because such a move increased the value of the DOC \u201cCollina Torinese\u201d and of other classic varietals that have contributed to the history of this territory; Barbera and Bonarda are first in popularity but also the rare and delicate \u201cCari\u201d and \u201cMalvasia\u201d are ideally paired with some of the best Torinese pastries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The survival of viticulture and the art of wine-making after the barbarian invasions that followed the fall of the Roman Empire, was mainly thanks to the monks who, in order to protect their monasteries, had continued to pass down the art of vine cultivation and the production of wine necessary for the celebration of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3610,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"territorio.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3598","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n