Geography

The region was formed during the Tertiary epoch, between the close of the Cretaceous and beginning of the glacial periods. The Tertiary period is split into five subgroups: Paleocene, Eocene, Oligocene, Miocene and Pliocene; it is the last two, which occurred between 25 and 2 million years ago that concern us here. Though sometimes seen as a cadet branch of the Alps or Apennines, the Langhe are clearly of maritime origin. Their formation indicates a configuration of shallow seas and inlets, now identified as the Padano (Po) gulf.

Sediments deposited at the bottom of the seas were compressed into conglomerate rocks like sandstone through the pressure of successive layers in the Langhe (these strata run from southeast to northwest at an average incline of approximately 15 per cent). The Tertiary crust movements that thrust the hills up above the level of the sea happened around the same time as the final elevation of the Alps. The climate then was warm and moist, gradually cooling to usher in the glacial period of the Pleistocene era about a million years ago.

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