Our ride starts from Neive, from Cascina Sarìa, a small family-run winery, born in the mid-seventies thanks to the purchase by Giovanni and his wife Maria of an old farmhouse, surrounded by immense expanses of fields and vineyards. Day by day the extent of the vineyards is increased, as is the experience in cultivation and winemaking, until, in 1999, the company started the production of bottled wines on its own. Today Cascina Saria produces red and white wines from native vines, among which Barbera d’Asti DOCG, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC and of course Barbaresco DOCG, as well as Langhe Arneis DOC and Brut Charmat “Sarì”.
We will leave Cascina Saria and start cycling to the La Pineta Farm, which for 43 years has been creating delights for the palate! Cold cuts are in fact a typical product of many regions and in Italy many companies produce excellent, but not many have dedicated more generations to animal breeding and the production of sausages as the members of the Boella family have done!
The company La Pineta was born in 1977 and still today it is located between Vaccheria di Guarene and Neive, where in the beginning it dealt only with breeding, and then develop over the years the slaughterhouse and the meat processing department and conclude with the company shop, where you can find excellent cold cuts, raw and cooked, as in the best Piedmontese tradition. Here Patrizia, Massimo and Maurizio will let us taste some of their delicacies, a stage dedicated to the greedy absolutely not to be missed!
We will leave La Pineta company to reach Barbaresco and the Saverio Vacca Farm and here, the owner Saverio will let us taste his wines and tell us about the history of his family, starting from 1958, the year in which his grandfather Francesco started a small winery and established it on the “Collina dell’Ovello”, then participating actively and with great collaboration in the Foundation of the Cooperative Producers of Barbaresco , in order to give dignity to the vineyards and the wine of Barbaresco. The Company, then inherited by his son Mario and later by his nephew Saverio, today is always there, on the “Collina dell’Ovello” and produces excellent wines such as Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe rosso DOC and Langhe Arneis DOC, as well as the young rosate Arcadia and fragrant red Morej. All to taste!
After a stretch of road surrounded by vineyards, we will reach Cascina Albano, where the roaring Vacca family will welcome us for a fantastic sensory experience. Another family, another story of work and passion to tell and other fantastic wines to taste, such as Barbera d’Alba DOC, Dolcetto d’Alba DOC, Langhe Arneis DOCG, but also the excellent bubbles, the latest born in Cascina Albano: the Metodo Classico “Perschers” and the sparkling wine “Sciarmat”. Here too we will not taste the legendary Barbaresco DOCG, as the family has always been a lecturer at the Cooperativa Produttori del Barbaresco Agricultural Society, an association that since its inception produces on behalf of its members and contributes to the promotion of this amazing wine all over the world. Excellent wines, with original names and deliciously hand-drawn labels, a care that testifies to the love for the product, the enthusiasm and the youthful commitment of the new generations who here, with their sons Marco and Marta, have collected the legacy of a historic company, but with an eye towards the future, innovation and with particular respect for the territory and the environment. A unique and unforgettable stop for lovers of wine, art and creativity.
Continuing we will reach Cascina Rabaglio, a small farm running a few hundred meters away.
Here we will discover that Andrea, Daniela and Filippo have collected the legacy of their grandfather and since 2005 they cultivate their vineyards located in the municipalities of Neive, Alba, Treiso and Barbaresco and produce, in addition to an excellent Barbaresco DOCG, also Dolcetto d’Alba, Barbera d’Alba, Langhe Arneis and Langhe Riesling. A tasting stage that will make us know up close another small production reality and its excellent Barbaresco.
But it is already time to start again and resume the bikes for the municipality of Treiso, where the Ada Nada Winery is located, a small but enchanting family-run reality that includes winery and farmhouse, both located in a splendid position, dominant on these wonderful hills. From the initial extension of 3 hectares the company has reached over the years to a total of 9 hectares of area cultivated with vineyards, plots divided into subareas, characteristics this great importance for the final result, the different areas of origin will in fact give different connotations and nuances to wines produced on the farm, but in particular to Barbaresco.
Here Annalisa and her splendid family give tasting the excellent wines of production and will present the history of the company, which has resided here for generations and which in recent years has been reinvented and carried on with enthusiasm and passion by Annalisa and her husband Elvio.
Ascents in the saddle we will still ride among unique panoramas and we will reach the Grasso Fratelli Farm, a historic production cellar that for generations has been creating native wines and in recent years has focused on the production of Barbaresco.
Many famous people, personalities of cinema and sport of international renown have passed through and have stopped in this cellar and here, in this magical place and almost crystallized over time, they have tasted an excellent glass of Barbaresco.
But it will already be time to leave to reach the last intermediate stage of this long and spectacular tour: the Sassi San Cristoforo Farm, located in Neive, on the hill that contrasts with the enchanting village, situated in the heart of the Barbaresco wine production area. The company was founded in 1997, thanks to the founder Angelo Sassi, and then more recently passed to the winemaker Davide Carniel who, with passion and competence, continues the activity, to pursue the original goal of the company: to produce a limited quantity of high quality bottles and offer them to a selected and competent clientele, both national and international. Davide will talk to us and then let us taste his precious wines, produced with a strong personality, which enhance the organoleptic properties of the original grapes, in particular Nebbiolo, from which the flagship product of the entire range is born: Barbaresco San Cristoforo. At the end of yet another glass, with our eyes full of beauty, we will resume the journey to return to the starting point, to Cascina Saria, where our long and wonderful ride among the crus of this area so invoked will end.
Will a day that you will not forget, whose scents and colors will remain in your heart, travel with us!
The products for tasting and the participating companies may undergo variations according to the seasonality of the products themselves and the possibilities and availability of producers linked to agricultural work in the summer and autumn period.
Via Riofreddo 9, 12052 Neive CN
