Italy · Oltrepò Pavese

Frecciarossa S.R.L Societa´Agricola

Century-old family estate in Casteggio, Oltrepò Pavese, making Pinot Nero vinified white, traditional-method sparkling rosé, and the native red Uva Rara from organically farmed limestone and clay hillsides since 1919.

The producer

Frecciarossa sits on the iron-rich hills above Casteggio, in the Oltrepò Pavese zone of southwestern Lombardy. Mario Odero bought the estate in 1919, reorganised the vineyards, and had the first bottles carrying the Frecciarossa name on the market within a decade. Four generations later, Margherita and Valeria Radici Odero converted all 34 hectares to organic viticulture, reaching certified status with the 2017 harvest.

The range covers three distinct traditions of the zone: Sillery, a white wine pressed from red Pinot Nero grapes on lime and clay soils; a Metodo Classico Rosé Extra Brut aged more than 18 months on the lees; and Uva Rara, a native red variety rare outside Oltrepò. Each bottle is tied to a regional practice with deep roots in this corner of Lombardy, where Pinot Nero has been grown for white-wine vinification since the 1850s.

Known for

Pinot Nero vinified white (Sillery) and traditional-method sparkling rosé from organically farmed Oltrepò Pavese.

Notable facts

The story

The Red Landslide That Became a Red Arrow

The slope above Casteggio runs red. Iron-rich soil covers the hillside, and at some point before anyone began farming it commercially, a landslide had cut through the slope and left its mark on the local maps. The toponym was Fraccia Rossa: red landslide, a plain description of the terrain. When Mario Odero registered the estate in the early twentieth century, the name was recorded as Frecciarossa instead. Frecciarossa means red arrow. The two words are close enough in sound that the error was either missed or simply left uncorrected. Odero used the name on his first commercial bottles in the 1920s, the family used it through four generations, and Margherita and Valeria Radici Odero use it today. The iron-red soils that gave the slope its original name are still visible on the hillside behind the estate, and the wine labels carry the name that came from a cartographer's slip.

From the atlas

Frecciarossa S.R.L Societa´Agricola

At A Glance

The Producer

Frecciarossa sits on the iron-rich hills of Casteggio, in the Oltrepò Pavese zone of southwestern Lombardy, a large appellation that curves south of the Po River into the foothills of the Apennines. Mario Odero bought the estate in 1919, reorganised the vineyards and the winemaking buildings, and had the first bottles carrying the Frecciarossa name on the market somewhere between 1921 and 1930. Four generations later, the estate spans 34 hectares, and the fourth-generation owners, Margherita and Valeria Radici Odero, decided in 2014 to convert the entire estate to organic viticulture. Certification arrived with the 2017 harvest.

The wines that come out of Casteggio are grounded in the particular traditions of Oltrepò Pavese: Pinot Nero grown for white-wine production, traditional-method sparkling from the same grape, and the native red variety Uva Rara. Frecciarossa makes one of each.

Place

Oltrepò Pavese is the part of Lombardy that most visitors to Milan never think about. It lies south of the Po, across the river from Pavia, climbing into the Apennine foothills in a series of ridges and clay-rich valleys. The DOC is large and covers a wide range of styles, but Pinot Nero has been planted here since at least the 1850s, used both for red wines and, in a regional practice that runs counter to what most people expect of a red grape, for white-wine vinification.

Casteggio sits toward the heart of this zone. The hills around it carry iron-rich soils that colour the landscape visibly, the same red-ochre earth that gave the estate its name. Elevation and the Apennine influence bring cooler nights than the Po plain below, helping the grapes hold acidity through ripening.

Soil And Site

The soils across the 34-hectare estate combine lime, clay, and iron-rich mineral content. The Sillery Pinot Nero Bianco parcels sit on lime and clay-rich ground, which keeps the grapes from overcooking and allows the variety to ripen with enough acidity to survive the gentle pressing and cool-fermentation approach the cellar uses. The iron content is older geology, and the same substrate colours the hillside red.

Story

Mario Odero arrived in Casteggio in 1919 with a plan to make the estate a working wine property rather than a landholding. He reorganised the vineyards, rebuilt the winemaking area, and began selling bottles under the estate name within the following decade. The name he landed on was not quite the one on the map. The toponym was Fraccia Rossa, meaning red landslide, a description of the slope and its iron-stained soil. A registration error turned it into Frecciarossa, meaning red arrow. The estate carried the corrected mistake forward without changing it back.

Commercial bottling under the Frecciarossa name ran continuously through the twentieth century. When Margherita and Valeria Radici Odero took the estate into their hands, they committed to organic farming as a formal decision rather than an incremental shift. The conversion was announced in 2014 and completed three years later, changing how the vineyards were managed across all 34 hectares before the first certified harvest came in.

Vineyards And Cellar

Organic farming on the estate has been certified since the 2017 harvest. In the vineyard, organic farming has been certified since the 2017 harvest, and a dependence on the natural mineral richness of the soils carries the vines.

In the cellar, each wine is handled differently. Sillery Pinot Nero Bianco begins with gentle pressing of the red-skinned Pinot Nero grapes, timed precisely to prevent colour extraction before fermentation begins. The juice then spends six months in stainless steel. The Rosé Extra Brut follows the traditional method: secondary fermentation takes place in bottle at 16°C, and the wine then ages on the lees in bottle for more than 18 months before disgorgement. That slow lees contact is what gives the wine its layered aromatic character and mineral depth. Uva Rara, the native red, is vinified as a straightforward red, with the variety's natural tannin and spice character allowed to come through clearly.

Wines

Frecciarossa makes three distinct wines, each covering a different facet of the Oltrepò Pavese tradition.

Sillery Pinot Nero Bianco is the estate's white wine from red grapes. Pinot Nero from lime and clay-rich parcels is pressed slowly and gently to keep the juice colourless, then fermented and aged in stainless steel for six months. The result carries white flowers and citrus on the nose alongside balsamic overtones and an unexpected depth for a white wine. On the palate it is medium-bodied with stone fruit, melon, and pear, and it finishes clean and supple.

Oltrepò Pavese Metodo Classico Rosé Extra Brut is a traditional-method sparkling rosé from Pinot Nero, pale in colour, with persistent fine bubbles. The aromatic register moves from wild strawberry and red flowers through to white pepper and Seville orange peel on the close. The palate is rich and well-proportioned, with crisp acidity and a mineral thread running through the finish. More than 18 months on the lees gives the wine its breadth.

Uva Rara is the native red variety of Oltrepò, rare outside the zone. Frecciarossa's bottling is bright ruby-red, with aromatics of Marasca cherry, forest undergrowth fruit, and a distinct hit of black pepper. The palate is fruit-forward, the tannins integrated, and the spice character persistent through the finish.

In The Glass

All three wines are dry, each with a different structural signature. The Sillery arrives with quiet floral and citrus aromas and a balsamic undercurrent, then opens to a medium body with stone, melon, and pear. The six months in stainless steel keep it clean and fruit-driven, and the gentle pressing means there is no pink in the glass and no skin tannin on the palate. It finishes crisp and supple.

The Rosé Extra Brut is more layered. Wild strawberry and red flowers open the nose, then shift toward white pepper and the bitter-bright note of Seville orange peel. The mousse is fine and persistent. On the palate the acidity is the frame, holding the richness in place and pulling a mineral line through the finish. The 18-plus months on lees is audible in the weight and complexity of the bubble texture.

The Uva Rara moves differently again. It is the warmest and most fruit-forward of the three, with Marasca cherry and forest fruit leading and black pepper following as a secondary aromatic. The tannins are firm but not rough, and the spice note extends into the finish rather than dropping out after swallowing.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Sillery Pinot Nero Bianco. It is made from Pinot Nero grapes harvested from lime and clay-rich parcels above Casteggio, pressed slowly to stay white, then aged six months in stainless steel with no oak influence and no residual colour. The wine sits somewhere between a Burgundian white and a northern Italian aromatic white, without quite being either: white flowers and citrus on the nose, balsamic overtones that signal red-grape depth, and a palate of stone fruit, melon, and pear with enough acidity to keep everything lively. It is the wine that most clearly explains what Oltrepò Pavese does with Pinot Nero, and what Frecciarossa does with its organic parcels.

Anecdote

The estate's original name on the map was Fraccia Rossa, which translates as red landslide. It was a practical description: the slope above Casteggio runs red with iron-rich soil, and a landslide had shaped the hillside at some point before anyone began farming it. When the estate was registered officially, whoever recorded the name wrote Frecciarossa instead of Fraccia Rossa. Frecciarossa means red arrow. The two words sound similar enough that the error was not caught, or perhaps it was caught and not corrected. Either way, it was never changed. Mario Odero used the name on his first bottles in the 1920s, Margherita and Valeria Radici Odero use it today, and the iron-red soils that inspired the original toponym are still visible on the slopes behind the estate.

Final Word

Frecciarossa is a century-old Oltrepò Pavese estate making wines from three distinct traditions of the zone: Pinot Nero vinified white, traditional-method sparkling from the same grape, and the indigenous red variety Uva Rara. The 34-hectare estate has been organically farmed since 2017, and the wines carry the character of their lime, clay, and iron-rich hillside soils in each bottle. Casteggio is not the most familiar address in Italian wine, but the bottles here are specific, well-made, and grounded in the region's lime, clay, and iron-rich hillside soils.

Sources

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