Cascina Valle Asinari Barbera Nizza 2017

Cascina Valle Asinari Barbera Nizza 2017

Originally a subzone of Barbera dAsti DOCG, Nizza became a separate DOCG in 2014

Cascina Valle Asinariis one of Piedmonts most historic wineries and estates. It is locatedinSan Marzano Oliveto(Asti province), in the rolling hills ofMonferratoin an area known as the valley of the donkey wranglers (asinaricomes fromasinoordonkey). Here, Barbera grapes grown onsandstone and limestone soilsachieve their greatest potential thanks to the ideal conditions for the production ofBarbera dAsti SuperioreandNizza DOCG. (The second of these is one of Italys most recent and most exciting appellations while interest in the first is becoming increasingly popular on both sides of the Atlantic.)

The owners farm the estates roughly 20 hectares usingorganicfarming practices and the winery is currently in the process of receiving its organic certification.But its future isbiodynamic.

One of the things that sets this small winery apart from its peers is that the winemaker at Cascina Valle Asinari uses spontaneous fermentation during vinification. This means that the wines are not inoculated using cultured yeast. Instead, they let fermentation begin with naturally occurring, ambient yeast that lives on the grape skins and in the winemaking facility. As a result, these wines including their Barbera dAsti, Barbera dAsti Superiore, and Nizza DOCGare the purest possible expression of the estates terroir.