The Barolos of the Langhe Hills: Cascina Amalia in Piedmont, Italy

Posted by Rowena Dumlao - Giardina 1/10/2019

The Barolos of the Langhe Hills: Cascina Amalia in Piedmont, Italy

The Boffa Family had an aspiration when they created Amalia Cascina in 2003. After acquiring an early 20th century farmhouse in Monforte d'Alba in Langhe and its surrounding vineyards, they decided to cultivate Dolcetto and Barbera. After all, they are in the Langhe hills, a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. Langhe is a wine growing landscape that enraptures the eyes with its soft hills filled with neatly combed rows of vines and most importantly, home to one of Italy's finest red wines.

Successfully moving forward in producing high quality wines, in the succeeding years, the Bossa Family expanded the estate by gearing towards hospitality with rooms for their guests, putting up a new winery and acquiring new vineyards in the prestigious Barolo crus, Fantini in Bussia and Le Coste in Monforte. Amalia Cascina continues to produce superior quality wines that respect the territory and tradition of Piedmont while still maintaining the original essence of their family-run business. Maria Angela takes care of the hospitality side, Gigi oversees the management of the estate's general activities while their son Paolo attends to the over-all production of the wines.  

Amalia Cascina's philosophy focuses in bringing out the best of the terroir, the vines and the harvests creating their own personalities along with the attentive work in the vineyards and the cellar. With every vintage, along with Paolo Boffa, agronomist Gianpiero Romana and enologist Piero Ballario work hard in achieving the winery's goals of producing high quality wines that are specific to the land. All the grapes are harvested manually vineyards at the average height of 450 meters above sea level.  

On a chosen day in December 2018, Paolo Boffa took his family's wines to Arcangelo Ristorante in Rome for a private tasting. The pairing of Chef Arcangelo Dandini's Roman dishes with the Piedmont wines took out the best of both sides of the regions in the palate.  

Langhe Rossese Bianco DOC 2016. Made of 100% Rossese Bianco from vines cultivated at 450 meters above sea level, in part clay with limestone and in part sandy soil that dates back from the Tortonian era. Rossese Bianco is a rare white grape variety that was grown abundantly in the Italian regions of Liguria and Piedmont but over the years, its cultivation and wine production has greatly diminished leaving only five producers in Piedmont specifically in the towns of Monforte d'Alba and Roddino, one of them Amalia Cascina. Fermented in stainless steel then aged partly in French oak barrique for 12 months while the other half aged in stainless steel sur lie with batonnage before being assembled and bottled. The resulting wine is equilibrated and straw yellow with a pronounced acidity and good sapidity. It has a long persistence in the mouth with mature tropical fruits and some nutty tertiary aromas.   

Dolcetto d'Alba 2016. Made with 100% Dolcetto red grapes cultivated at an altitude of 450 meters above sea level in layers of marl and sandstone from the Lequio Formation of the Serravallian - early Tortonian periods. Macerated for 6-8 days, fermented and aged in stainless steel for 8 months before being bottled. The resulting wine has a good body with a purple red aspect. In the palate, there is persistence, fruity (red stone fruits, dark berries), good acidity, sapidity, moderately tannic and round. It's very pleasant to drink at its youth.  

Barbera d'Alba DOC 2016. Made with 100% Barbera red grapes cultivated at an altitude of 450 meters above sea level in layers of marl and sandstone from the Lequio Formation of the Serravallian - early Tortonian periods. Fermented and aged in stainless steel for 7 months before bottling. This is the second vintage of the winery wherein the Barbera d'Alba has been worked exclusively in steel. The resulting wine has medium body with purple red color. Moderately complex wherein aromas of red berries are prominent as well as traces of violet. Persistent in the mouth with very good acidity.

  Barbera d'Alba Superiore DOC 2016. Made with 100% Barbera red grapes from vines aging from 15 - 20 years old cultivated at an altitude of 450 meters above sea level in layers of marl and sandstone from the Lequio Formation of the Serravallian - early Tortonian periods. Maceration is between 6 to 8 days then fermentation in stainless steel. The wine is aged in used French-oak barrique for about 12 months before bottle aging for a few more months. The resulting wine is complex with a light hint of oak in the nose and tertiary aromas that interestingly opens up to more varietal aromas of violets and red berries.  

Langhe Nebbiolo 2016. Made with 100% Nebbiolo red grapes cultivated at an altitude of 450 meters above sea level in layers of marl and sandstone from the Lequio Formation of the Serravallian - early Tortonian periods. Maceration is between 5 - 6 days, fermentation then aging in stainless steel for about 8 months before bottle aging. Varietal characteristics are amplified with its short aging in steel as the typical ruby red transparency shows itself in the glass with complex and intense aromas of sweet spices, violets, rose petals, and red berries. Tannic, fresh in the mouth with moderate sapidity.  

Barolo DOCG 2014. Made with 100% Nebbiolo red grapes cultivated from both vineyard crus of Cascina Amalia which are Fantini in Bussia and Le Coste in Monforte which are predominantly sandy with Sant'Agata fossils from the Tortonian age. The maceration and fermentation in stainless took place for a total of 20 days. Since 2014 had been a climatically difficult year with lots of rain and cold temperatures, the wines from both vineyards were aged together from the best grapes (as opposed to the usual practice of aging separately) in 26 hectolitre large French oak barrels for 24 months then more months of aging in the bottle. The resulting wine is harmonious, full-bodied with a ruby red color, complexities in the nose and palate of red berries, dark cherries, dark stone fruits, spices, and forest undergrowth. In the mouth, there is a prominence of acidity, medium sapidity, roundness from aging, moderately tannic and persistence.   

Barolo Le Coste di Monforte DOCG 2011 and Barolo Le Coste di Monforte DOCG 2013. Made with 100% Nebbiolo red grapes cultivated from vines that are 20 years old from a Le Coste in Monforte cru vineyard which has marl-clay soil rich in chalk and Sant'Agata fossils from the Tortonian age which allows the vines to produce structure and volume. Maceration and fermentation took place for about 20 days then aged in 26 hectolitre large French oak barrels for 24 months then more months of aging in the bottle. The resulting wines have great personalities and harmonious with full-bodied ruby red color, complexities in the nose and palate. There is very good acidity in the 2013 more than the 2011, long finish, medium sapidity, roundness from aging and moderately tannic. The 2013 comes from a good year and promises to have a good evolution in the coming years.

Barolo Busia DOCG 2013. Made with 100% Nebbiolo red grapes cultivated from vines that are 20 years old from the Fantini in Busia cru vineyard which has predominantly Diano standstone that dates back from the Tortonian age at a higher altitude than the others. Maceration and fermentation took place for about 20 days then aged in 26 hectolitre large French oak barrels for 24 months then more months of aging in the bottle. This is the first vintage from the Fantina in Busia cru. The resulting wine has a stronger personality and more prominence in its characteristics than the other Barolos in the winery's production. It maintains complexities in the nose and palate, persistence, good sapidity and warmth in the mouth.