LA CASACCIA
Monferatto, Italy
At their winery "La Casaccia", the Rava family produces some of the most expressive, fruit-driven, accessible, and out-and-out pleasurable red wines we've tried from Monferrato. The focus here is on Grignolino and Barbera - the former credited as "The Nebbiolo of Monferrato Casalese" by the ever-jovial Giovanni Rava - and on family itself.
The phrase "family winery" is ubiquitous in the wine world for good reason; from the grandest Chateaux to the tiniest garagiste, many of the world's greatest producers have become so by handing their knowledge down through generations, from mother and father to daughter and son. However, La Casaccia embodies this notion better than most: each member of the Rava family contributes to the day's work with an infectious enthusiasm and joy.
Elena and Giovanni met at the University of Torino while working on their agricultural degrees, and were determined to return to Elena's family lands, those farmed by her parents and grandparents, to raise their children, Margherita and Marcello.
The picturesque holdings in Monferrato Casalese, a mere 8 hectares of gently rolling hills interspersed with vibrant wildlife, are planted on calcareous sands and chalky limestone: ancient shallow seabed that reflects bright white in the direct Piemontese sun. Organics have always been at the core of Elena and Giovanni's enterprise: they began certification immediately upon their arrival in 2001 and were fully organic by 2003. Their eco-friendly operation utilizes solar energy, captured rainwater, and even wood stove heating - renewable top to bottom.
The biodiversity at La Casaccia is truly a marvel to behold: the acreage is rife with fruit and nut trees (some especially impressive wild cherries included) and all manner of animals, both pesky (such as deer) and gainful (bees, birds, and boar). This is the result of steady and concerted efforts, particularly by Margherita, the heir apparent and host to visitors at the property. The only vine treatments are the organic copper and sulfur sprays and the nationwide required Piretro (derived from dalmatian flowers to guard against the flavescence dorée insect vector causing vine death on a mass scale in Europe). Margherita credits their incredible vineyard health to an equilibrium they have managed between their organic farm and their natural surroundings over the last two decades.
Their cellar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a hand-carved 18th-century relic, a network of tunnels and caves under the estate. It's dark, still, cold, and yet serene and magically atmospheric in these passages - the perfect place for wine production and storage. Indeed, the lattice of chalk corridors has been used as a winery since it was carved in the 1700's. But one only needs Giovanni along for the expedition. His irresistible, natural light is more than enough as he explains the intricacies of the Pietra da Cantoni (the formation that makes up the bedrock of the cellar, very similar to the tuffe of the Loire).
When it comes to the winemaking itself, there are few houses with as delicate a touch. Firstly, all fruit brought into the winery is at optimum ripeness; nothing green or dried. All grapes are destemmed, and only free run juice is actually fermented into wine (leftover pomace is sold off as a base for grappa production), grapes are never actually pressed. This is vital for Grignolino in particular, a grape prone to bitterness and harsh tannin if treated too roughly.
All fermentation takes place spontaneously, and macerations are markedly short (just three days for Grignolino, fifteen at the most for Barbera). Racking is also extremely important as with wines are unfined and unfiltered, eliminating particulate matter and guarding the wine against reduction. It is their deft balancing act between a direct and non-interventionalist approach that imparts remarkable elegance for wines so attractively priced.
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