Our wine estate was established by Stefano Ferraris in 1923. It is situated in the municipal district of Agliano Terme, in the heart of the historic zone of Barbera d’Asti and Nizza, one of the best vine-growing areas with respect to soil and microclimate, where we have 12 hectares of cultivated vineyards, partially consisting of very old vines, some of which have reached 70 years of age. The traditional Guyot training system is employed, with yields ranging from 6,000 to 9,000 kilos of grapes per hectare. A bunch thinning takes place at the end of July so as to remove the excess of grapes. Grape harvest occurs at different times so as to pick only perfectly ripe grapes. Fermentation occurs in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks at 25° to 28°C and depending on the vintage, it lasts 10 to 15 days on average.
We produce 6 different wines from the grapes grown in our vineyards: four Barbera d’Asti Docg, one Nizza and one Monferrato Rosso. The two wines Barbera d’Asti Docg “I SuĂ´rĂ” and Barbera d’Asti Docg “Nobbio” mature in steel tanks. The “Nobbio” wine is produced with the grapes grown in our 80 year old Nobbio vineyard. Other two wines Barbera d’Asti Superiore Docg “Bisavolo” and Barbera d’Asti Superiore Docg “La Cricca” are left to age in oak barrels for at least one year. In particular “Bisavolo” matures in 500 liter oak barrels known as tonneaux, whereas La Cricca is aged in barriques. In the last year was introduced also Nizza Docg, wich matures for 18 mounths in french oak barrels. Since 2008, we are producing a Monferrato Rosso from Nebbiolo grapes, a wine which matures for one year in oak-tonneaux. A small quantity of Grignolino d’Asti is also produced at our estate.
Our old cellar dates back to the 19th century and holds a collection of “natural sculptures” obtained from ancient vines. A part of this collection is also shown in the Castle of Grinzane Cavour.