 One of the earliest documentation of the Cortese grape dates back to a 1659 report to the Marchesa Doria from the estate manager of the family's villa in Montaldeo that states that all the vineyards were planted with Cortese and Vermentino.In 1870, the ampelographers P.P.DeMaria and Carlo Leardi noted that the Cortese was being widely cultivated in the Alessandria province of Piedmont where it was prized for its hardiness to grape diseases and ability to produce large crop yields as well as it high quality wine.