PIEDMONT, Italia - Montferrat is in the northern Italian region
of Piedmont. What you need to know about it is this: it is one of the most
important wine districts in Italy. It’s also an agricultural area, which means
in the spring when the fields are first planted, the soft hills become a living
mosaic of beautiful colors.
The fact that it is stunningly beautiful is a plus, in fact it
is so beautiful that in 2014, UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site of
Natural Beauty.
Montferrat has a strange history. The early rulers of the region
were related to the Kings of France and the Holy Roman Emperors. They were also related to the royal familes of
Jerusalem and the Imperial Byzantine Empire.
And then there was the time Montferrat was controlled by Spain –
for about three years actually, and through some sort of hocus pocus it passed
to the Gonzaga Dukes of Mantua. The Gonzaga hung on to it the best they could,
but then they lost it to the Dukes of Savoy.
If you are thinking that Montferrat is rather strange for an Italian
name, you are right. The stories about how it got its name is even more
strange. It goes like this:
A very, very long time ago, the legendary founder of Montferrat,
Aleramo, needed to shoe his horse. He looked and looked but he couldn’t find a
hammer, so he used a brick- which, in local dialect was called a “mun”. And so
the horse was shod – shod being the
words “fra” in local dialect, which brings us to Munfra, and with a little magic
fairy dust, it turns into Montferrat.
Actually there is another name story, not quite so fantastical
and definitely more logical and it goes like this: Montferret comes from the
Latin “Mons ferax”, which means fertile and rich hills. Now that makes sense.
The rich and fertile hills are by all accounts the most
important thing about Montferrat. The rich land, along with hot, dry summers
and cold winters, is perfect for growing grapes. Of the wines produced here, (DOC
and DOCG), the most famous are Barbera d’Asti, Asti Spumante, Moscato
d’Asti, Cortese, Malvasia and Grignolino.
Then there’s the other stuff about the famous writers, poets and
artists who come from this area, but I figure as long as we’ve got the skinny
on the wine, the rest can wait for another time.
Copyright © 2016 Phyllis Macchioni
