The area of reference is the illy area around Costigliole d’Asti, in between the Monferrato and the Langhe hills , in Piedmont.
These hills showed some kind of historically recorded wine vocation, as we can read as follows:
“Some historical records by the Marquis Filippo Asinari from San Marzano, who was a diplomat and winemaker of Costigliole d’Asti from the napoleonic era, tell us about the fact that after experimenting on different vineyards from France and Spain too, he actually claimed Barbera as the autochthonous grape variety par excellance. The same records tell us about the fact that Barbera was already proving stability in long transport routes then, so that it was exported as far as South America in wooden barrels.” [1]
The farm is made up of some 18 hectars of land and it consists of the alternation of vineyards, woods, sown fields and uncultivated ones.
The Vineyards
The vineyards are located in different places, but , anyway, they have always been intended and used as vineyards where some very old plants are preserved ( some are even more than 90 years old) which need specific non-intruding and highly professional cultivations.
Barla
Located in the Municipality of Mongardino d’Asti (230 meters above sea level), the vineyard planting, covering 2 hectares and 300 m, dates back to around 1928 with a prevalence of Barbera biotypes.
The exposure is south-east.
The soil is characterized by marls and “Astiane” sands ( from Asti).
The breeding type is partly on espaliers even if some plants are gobelet breeded.
Achille e Colletto
Located in the Municipality of Costigliole d’Asti (250 meters above sea level), the vineyard planting, covering approximately 2 hectares, dates back to around 1950 with a prevalence of biotypes of Barbera and Nebbiolo.
The exposure is south-west.
The soil is characterized by marls and “Astiane” sands ( from Asti).
The soil is characterized by marls and “Astiane” sands ( from Asti).
Bricco
It is located in the area of Costigliole d’Asti (250 m above the sea level), The vineyard was planted around 1954 with mostly different biotypes of Barbera. The vineyard was planted around 1954 with mostly different biotypes of Barbera. Over the years this vineyard has been some kind of experimental terrain where we planted some old local wine varieties along with some international vines. ( Barbera, Freisa, Balsamina, Uvalino, Cabernet, Nebbiolo).
The exposure is south-west.
The soil is characterized by marls and “Astiane” sands ( from Asti).
The breeding type is partly on espaliers even if some plants are gobelet breeded.
Ciabot del Moreto
Located in the Municipality of Santo Stefano Belbo (230 meters above sea level), the vineyard planting, covering approximately 1 hectare, dates back to 1950 with a prevalence of Moscato biotypes.
The exposure is south-east.
The soil is characterized by the presence of marl, sand and silt.
The training system is partly sapling (gobelet) and partly espalier.
Working on the vineyard and in the cellar
We handle our work on the vineyard mostly by hand on our own with the help of a slight mechanization in order to avoid an excessive soil compaction.
As a matter of fact the quality of the soil is our main goal, something to preserve along with the lifespan of our current installations/plants.
In order to preserve everything and in case of need we may use copper and sulphur.
If there were harvests with exceptionally negative conditions due to some critical climate trends, it would be necessary to give up the farming production at least partly ( for istance what happened during harvest in 2014).
The most committing and demanding phase is the harvest timing, since it must keep up with the highest levels for the future potential trend of the wine.
The selected grapes are fermented and their long spontaneous fermentation can last from 1 to 2 months, interspersed with some useful fulling.
The wine goes through different decanting stages on a regular basis for a more or less a 3 year-breeding phase in wooden barrels before it is finally bottled .
No additives are used, not even sulphur dioxide.
[1] Costigliole d’Asti: visione storica e profilo contemporaneo / Giuseppe Bologna, Chiara Veglia. – Asti : Amico, 1999 (p. 215).