Cantine Ascheri Giacomo

This important Langhe family dates back to 1880, their cantina is to be found in the town of Bra, but the family originates from the village of La Morra. Bra was very much a key hub in the movement of Barolo in the early years due to its train station built in 1874, linking Torino to Savona, via Bra & Cervere (before Alba built their’s). Indeed in those days there were c. ten Barolo producers/negociants in the town, of which only Cantine Ascheri Giacomo survives.

The cantina today is run by la Signora Cristina Ascheri, mother of Matteo who took over from his father Giacomo in 1988, & alongside is Giuliano Bedino the enologo since 1996 & Matteo’s son Giuseppe. They have 16ha of Nebbiolo da Barolo vineyards from across three communes/villages: La Morra, Verduno & Serralunga d’Alba. Incidentally, Matteo is currently the Presidente of the Consorzio of Barbaresco & Barolo growers.

Historically they have always made a traditional Barolo, blended from across the three villages of La Morra, Verduno & Serralunga d’Alba. From 1999 they started releasing the four single vineyard Baroli: Pisapola (Verduno), Sorano (Serralunga d’Alba), & ‘Coste e Bricco’ (Serralunga d’Alba) from 1999, with La Morra’s Ascheri – from where the family originally herald – from 2010. These single vineyard Barolos are only made in exceptional years – most recently in 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, & then forecast to be in 2019.

Vinification is classical, employing BR97 locally-selected yeast, pumping over or submerged cap for up to 20 days, before ageing the wines ageing for circa 18 mths in largely botti grandi of between 10-20HL, plus a small percentage of French 500litre tonneaux. Since vintage 2010, the Barolos are closed using DIAM30. Total sulphur tends to be c. 75mg/litro at bottling.