Roero, Priocca, Piemonte, Italy
Wines by Mario & Giovanni Roagna
Varietals and key wines include; Barbera d ’alba, Nebbiolo d'alba, Roero Arneis
Nestled in a valley in the far north of Italy lies Cascina Val del Prete. Meaning ‘Valley of the Priest’, the estate at Val del Prete was passed down through the Grèsy family until 1977, when it was bought by Bartolomeo Roagna of Priocca d’Alba, who worked as a sharecropper for the family at the time.
In 1995, his son Mario, supported by his wife Maria Carla, took the company over. Together, they committed to fruit growing and breeding, dedicating themselves to viticulture and the production of high quality wines.
Cascina Val del Prete handles the entire wine production process and harnesses natural agricultural practices. In 2010, Mario’s son Giovanni joined the family business and since 2013, their 10 hectares of vineyards cultivated in Arneis, Barbera and Nebbiolo are certified organic and farmed biodynamically.
The approach to winemaking at Cascina Val del Prete is non-interventionist. The makers use indigenous yeasts for fermentation. Depending on the vintage and grape, the macerations last from 25 to 30 days, meaning the musts take on more aromatic compounds and colour. Once alcoholic fermentation is complete, the wines are pressed then transfused into steel tanks for malolactic fermentation on the lees.
Wine is later transferred to barrels, where they age for anything from a few months for the early drinking wines, up to three years for the Roero Riserva. The resulting wines are delicious, classic indigenous expressions of this ancient land.
