Drive an hour south of Milan and the landscape changes. The flat expanse of the Po Valley gives way to a succession of gentle, vine-covered hills that roll toward the Apennines. This is the Oltrepò Pavese (link) – literally “beyond the Po” – a region that has produced wine since Roman times and that, since the mid-nineteenth century, has quietly become Italy’s largest and most important home for Pinot Nero.

It is also a region that remains strikingly little known to most wine drinkers. Even in Italy, its name often elicits only vague recognition. Yet the numbers are unambiguous: roughly 2,900 hectares of Pinot Nero, more than any other Italian region, and one of the largest continuous plantings of the variety in Europe after Champagne, Burgundy and Baden (link) with 5,029 hectares Spätburgunder / Pino Nero. The grape arrived here in 1850 (link), brought from Burgundy by Count Augusto Giorgi di Vistarino (link), and has since become the defining variety of these hills, both for still red wines and for traditional-method sparkling wines now officially labelled Classese (link).

Against this backdrop sits La Genisia (link). Founded in 2020 as a focused project within the long-established Torrevilla cooperative (link), it brings together twenty growers – against 200 for the cooperative – and seventy carefully selected hectares – against 500 for the cooperative – in the western Oltrepò, around Codevilla, Torrazza Coste and the valleys of the Coppa and Schizzola.

Its name, derived from “genesis” or “origin,” signals an ambition that is both historical and contemporary: to start again from the land itself, using detailed zoning work conducted with the University of Milan, centralised harvest management, and a clear stylistic focus on the purity and elegance of Pinot Nero.

What distinguishes La Genisia is not scale or antiquity, but method. It is a cooperative that behaves like a research laboratory: soil by soil, parcel by parcel, vintage by vintage. The result is a range that moves from precise, vertical Classese sparkling wines to a still Pinot Nero of quiet intensity. In a region that has spent the last decade refining its identity and still struggles for wider recognition, La Genisia offers a particularly clear and contemporary expression of what Oltrepò Pavese Pinot Nero can be.

The following pages examine the wines, the working methods of the cantina, and the larger story of a territory that is finally beginning to claim the attention it has long deserved.

Classese: The Rebirth of a Historic Name

Among the roughly nearly thirty estates that presented Classese-labelled wines at its Vinitaly 2026 debut was La Genisia – a small cooperative-born project from the western Oltrepò whose relationship with the Metodo Classico runs deeper than a shared label. The following chapter looks at why: how a cellar producing barely 200,000 bottles a year came to devote a quarter of its output to traditional-method sparkling wine, and what its presence at that debut says about where this reborn appellation is heading.

What Classese Actually Requires

Under the revised rules, Classese is reserved for the territory’s finest traditional-method sparkling wines and comes with meaningfully stricter production standards than the previous regime:

• Grape composition: a minimum of 85% Pinot Nero, with the remaining share drawn from other authorized varieties.
• Harvest: grapes must be picked exclusively by hand, with selection favoring hillside vineyards.
• Lees ageing: a minimum of 24 months for the base wines, rising to 36 months for vintage-dated („millesimato“) releases and 48 months for the Riserva category.
• Styles: the appellation covers both a classic Brut expression and rosé/Cruasé versions, reflecting the two main stylistic paths producers pursue with Pinot Nero.

The Consorzio frames Pinot Nero as the structural backbone of this identity – the Oltrepò Pavese devotes over 70% of its regional vineyard area to the variety, and Classese is explicitly conceived as the quality apex of that specialization: a defined regulatory and stylistic perimeter meant to give the territory’s Metodo Classico a recognisable, premium identity of its own, distinct from the many other Oltrepò denominations.

The Tasting

La Genisia Classese Pinot Nero Brut Rosé

Disgorged 12/2025, lot L35351, 12.5% ABV.

Production method: “First fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks at 18°C. After fermentation, the base wine rests prior to tirage. The second fermentation occurs in bottle at a constant 16°C and is followed by a minimum of 24 months’ ageing on lees. After disgorgement, the wine rests for a further 2–3 months before release.”

On the pour, it releases a creamy mousse that settles quickly, giving way to a fine, persistent effervescence. The nose is elegant, lively and refreshing, opening on an inviting array of red fruits led by strawberry – we’d recommend allowing the glass thirty minutes to open fully, as the aromatics gain noticeably with air. The palate is full-bodied and well-structured, with lively acidity that is refreshing yet beautifully integrated and never sharp. An underlying minerality runs beneath fruit flavours that echo the nose, joined on the finish by a delicate note of rose. 17.5/20 (91/100). Serve at between 6 and 8° C.

La Genisia Classese Pinot Nero Brut

Disgorged 12/2025, lot L5350, 12.5% ABV.

Actually a Blanc de Noirs. It all begins with a creamy mousse with a brilliant, fine and persistent perlage. The nose is very elegant, harmonious and fresh, offering lovely complexity. It is a perfect illustration of how the Classese can demonstrate such class. The senses are awakened. The range of scents goes from citrus to Golden Delicious apple, with hints of cooled bread crust fresh from the oven. A truly beautiful, promising bouquet that should continue to develop over the next five years. On the palate, it shows less liveliness than the previous wine, but superior balance, with class and structure. Nor does it possess the same minerality; here, it is less incisive. This wine clearly aims to rival the finest Franciacortas and certain artisan champagnes. The finish is creamy and invites you to pour yourself another glass. 17.5-17.75/20 (91-92/100). Serve at between 6 and 8° C.

La Genisia Classese Pinot Nero Extra Brut

Disgorged 12/2025, lot L5351, 12.5% ABV.

Essentially a Blanc de Noirs, and exactly the same colour as the Brut tasted just before. The nose is lively, elegant, harmonious and complex, with real depth: invigorating, precise scents of grapefruit, unripe pineapple and green apple, layered with subtle viennoiserie and bread-crust notes and a hint of white blossom. It’s the kind of bouquet that rewards patience – spend more time with it and further nuances keep emerging. On the palate it’s juicy and well-balanced, with a fine, fresh flow; the acidity is perfectly integrated, woven seamlessly into a structure that stays straightforward even as the flavours turn genuinely exciting and predominantly mineral. The finish is long. 17.5–17.75/20 (91–92/100). Serve between 6 and 8°C.

La Genisia Pinot Nero dell’Oltrepo Pavese DOC 2025

12.5% ABV. Rita Virdis, La Genisia’s export manager, describes this wine as entirely characteristic of its region – and the wine bears that out. The nose is fresh, delicate, inviting and well-balanced, showing a pleasant complexity of dark fruit, plum, blackberry, liquorice root, sweet mint and an array of spices. The palate is juicy, delicate and velvety – a real delight – with precise, refined tannins and a pronounced acidity that keeps the whole wine fresh and lively. An immensely versatile wine, equally at home on any occasion. Drink now. 17.5/20 (91/100).

Inside the Cantina

Land, Method and a Cooperative That Thinks Like a Laboratory

La Genisia (link) is not a conventional estate. It is a cooperative project launched in 2020 within the larger Torrevilla group (link), bringing together twenty experienced growers who farm seventy hectares of carefully selected vineyards in the western Oltrepò Pavese. These parcels lie principally in the municipalities of Codevilla, Torrazza Coste and Mornico Losana – the latter contributing specific parcels favoured for certain Pinot Nero styles – and in the valleys of the Coppa and Schizzola, at elevations between roughly 250 to 450 metres. Daniele Cernilli, the ‘Wine Doctor’ and former editor-in-chief of Gambero Rosso, even mentions vineyards at altitudes ranging from 200 to 600 metres.

The seventy hectares are not the entire surface of the parent cooperative, but the specific vineyards chosen and managed under the La Genisia project.

Each vineyard was carefully profiled according to specific factors, including:

• Soil composition: origin and chemical analysis
• Environmental conditions: exposure and slope
• Climatic conditions: temperature, rainfall and humidity

The soils are typically marine sedimentary: a mix of marl, clay, limestone, gypsum and sand, with notable variations from one slope to the next. Diurnal temperature swings are pronounced, reinforced by the Oltrepò’s position at the meeting point of four regions – Lombardy, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Liguria – an unusually open, wind-exposed setting for a hill district this close to the Po Valley. The near-constant airflow, together with the influence of both the nearby Apennines and residual breezes from the Ligurian Sea, helps keep vineyards dry after rain, reducing disease pressure on a variety as fastidious as Pinot Nero, and tempers the heat of the growing season – conditions that suit the grape particularly well, whether destined for still red wine or for traditional-method sparkling wine.

What sets the project apart is the degree of central coordination. Under the leadership of President Matteo Ghiara and winemaker Simone Fiori, La Genisia became, in 2024, the first cooperative cellar in the Oltrepò to select its own harvesting teams and to manage the harvest centrally under their leadership. The aim is straightforward: uniform criteria for ripeness, timing and selection across all the contributing vineyards. This is unusual in a cooperative context, where growers traditionally retain more autonomy at harvest.

Equally important is the multi-year zoning study conducted in collaboration with the University of Milan (and in particular with Professor Leonardo Valenti). Several hundred hectares were analysed for soil composition, microclimate, exposure and altitude. The resulting “identity profile” of the territory functions as a living handbook that guides agronomic decisions. As the winery’s own materials put it, the scientific work is not intended to replace traditional knowledge but to refine it with more precise data.

Pinot Nero is the stylistic compass. Simone Fiori has described it as the variety that “interprets the territory with great sensitivity and allows us to build a contemporary and recognisable winemaking language.” The production philosophy emphasises patience, close listening to each vineyard, continuous dialogue between growers and the technical team, and a rigorous scientific approach at everystage. Annual production stands at around 200,000 bottles across three overlapping ranges – organized by style and by grape variety, so several sparkling wines appear in more than one line below. The Sparkling range comprises eight labels, headed by the highly acclaimed Centodieci. The Pinot Nero range comprises ten labels in total: four Metodo Classico and two Charmat-method sparkling wines (already counted among the eight above), alongside two still red wines, one rosé and one frizzante. A final, broader varietal range of six wines completes the portfolio: Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, Bonarda, Barbera and Cabernet Sauvignon.

In short, La Genisia operates as a cooperative that behaves more like a focused research and quality project: shared ownership of the land’s potential, centralised technical control, and a clear commitment to expressing Pinot Nero with precision rather than volume.