Italy · Roero

Cascina Chicco

Roero family estate farming more than 50 hectares from Canale to Monforte d'Alba, with Arneis, Nebbiolo and Barolo at the core.

The producer

Cascina Chicco takes its name from Chicus, the local Roero nickname of the Faccenda family. Ernesto Faccenda, a butcher by trade, bought one hectare of vineyard in Canale in 1950 and began growing Nebbiolo and Barbera for local sale in demijohns. His son Federico and Federico's wife Maddalena converted that farming operation into an estate, putting the family name on a label. In the 1980s, Enrico and Marco, trained at the Oenological School in Alba, extended the reach across the Tanaro into the Langhe, adding parcels in Monforte d'Alba and Barbaresco.

Today the estate spans more than 50 hectares across five communes: Canale, Vezza d'Alba, Castellinaldo d'Alba, Barbaresco and Monforte d'Alba. The guiding logic is territorial: each grape is planted and vinified in the commune where it performs best. Arneis grows on the sandy Roero soils of Canale. Barbera is farmed in Castellinaldo. Nebbiolo runs from a cross-commune Langhe blend up through Roero named sites, Barolo from Monforte MGAs, and Barbaresco from the Ovello cru in Neive. In 2014, the estate completed an underground cellar of more than 5,000 square metres, carved 28 metres into the hillside at Canale, with ageing galleries, barrique rooms, and hand-dug rock cellars called crutins visible alongside exposed terracotta brick and chalk crystal outcroppings.

Known for

Roero Arneis, Langhe Nebbiolo, Barolo (Monforte d'Alba MGAs), Barbaresco (Ovello)

Notable facts

The story

The Butcher's Counter

Ernesto Faccenda came to wine sideways. He ran a butcher's shop in Canale and sold cured meats, and in 1950 he bought one hectare of vineyard in the Roero hills not as a statement of intent but as an extension of a life already built around local produce. The early harvests went out in demijohns to neighbours and nearby restaurants: no label, no estate name. When Federico and his wife Maddalena decided to bottle and sell under the family name, they converted part of the building to receive visitors and kept Ernesto's marble counter from the delicatessen. It still stands in the tasting room today: a long slab of pale stone that once held salumi and now sits at the centre of a wine operation covering more than 50 hectares and two of Piemonte's appellations.

From the atlas

Cascina Chicco

At A Glance

The Producer

Cascina Chicco takes its name from "Chicus," the local Roero nickname of the Faccenda family. Ernesto Faccenda, a butcher by trade, bought one hectare of vineyard in Canale in 1950 and began growing Nebbiolo and Barbera for local sale. His son Federico and Federico's wife Maddalena converted that farming operation into an estate, bottling wine under the family name. In the 1980s, Federico and Maddalena's sons Enrico and Marco trained at the Oenological School in Alba and brought the estate to its current scale.

Today the estate spans more than 50 hectares across Canale, Vezza d'Alba, Castellinaldo d'Alba, Barbaresco and Monforte d'Alba. The guiding principle is uncomplicated: plant and vinify each grape variety in the commune where it performs best. Arneis goes into sandy Roero soils in Canale. Barbera is grown in Castellinaldo. Nebbiolo appears across three levels, from a cross-commune Langhe blend to named-site Roero, Barolo from Monforte MGAs, and Barbaresco from the Ovello cru.

Place

Canale sits on the right bank of the Tanaro river, in the Roero, the smaller and less-known half of a wine landscape that most buyers know primarily from the left bank. Across the Tanaro lies the Langhe, where Barolo and Barbaresco are made on clay-rich, limestone-veined soils. The Roero is different in almost every physical respect: soils are sandy, the terrain is more deeply eroded, and the growing conditions favour aromatic whites and lighter Nebbiolo rather than the extracted, tannin-heavy reds of the Langa.

Roero Arneis is the DOC built entirely around this sandy-soil character. The Arneis grape, indigenous to the Roero, produces a white wine that is aromatic and stone-fruited, with relatively low acidity compared to the high-acid reds grown across the river. Nebbiolo farmed on Roero soils, particularly at the Valmaggiore parcel, gives a lighter, more floral expression than Barolo.

Cascina Chicco holds parcels on both sides. The Monforte d'Alba MGAs and the Ovello cru in Barbaresco are Langa addresses, where the clay and limestone drive the tannic weight and cellaring potential that define those appellations.

Soil And Site

The Roero parcels, including Canale and Valmaggiore, sit on the sandy, erosion-sculpted soils of the right bank. These soils drain quickly and warm early in the season, conditions that favour aromatic expression and relatively early harvests for Arneis and lighter Nebbiolo.

On the Langa side, the Monforte d'Alba MGAs sit on the heavier, calcareous clay soils that give Barolo its tannin and its capacity to age. The Ovello cru in Barbaresco, in the Neive subzone, is known for producing wines with firm tannic architecture and long development in bottle.

Story

Ernesto Faccenda did not set out to build a wine estate. He ran a butcher's shop and sold cured meats, and the vineyard hectare he bought in 1950 was an addition to a life already organised around another trade. He sold the early harvests locally in demijohns, without a label or a name.

Federico and Maddalena changed the direction. They committed to estate bottling, put the family name on the label, and began building vineyard holdings beyond the original Canale parcels. Enrico and Marco, arriving at the business with formal training from Alba in the 1980s, extended the reach further still, acquiring parcels in Monforte d'Alba and Barbaresco. The range that now carries the Cascina Chicco name is the result of three distinct generational decisions: to grow, to bottle, and to reach across the Tanaro into the Langhe.

The most visible single investment in that trajectory is the underground cellar completed in 2014. More than 5,000 square metres were carved 28 metres into the hillside at Canale. Inside, exposed terracotta brick and chalk crystal outcroppings sit alongside the ageing galleries, barrique rooms, and hand-dug rock cellars called crutins, small chambers cut directly into the rock face.

Vineyards And Cellar

The estate's approach is to match grape to commune rather than blend across the full holding. Arneis is farmed at Canale, where sandy soils and early warmth give the grape its characteristic stone-fruit and floral aromatics without excess weight. Barbera is planted at Castellinaldo d'Alba, where the grape's naturally high acidity is channelled into wines with deep colour and lively palate freshness.

Nebbiolo is handled differently at each address. The Valmaggiore parcel in the Roero produces a lighter, more floral Nebbiolo. The Monforte MGAs on the Langa side produce the Barolo, aged in the underground cellar's dedicated barrique and ageing areas. The Ovello cru material in Barbaresco benefits from the hand-dug crutins, where constant temperature and humidity support long, even ageing.

The 2014 cellar is divided into zones: a conventional ageing room, a barrique section, a tasting room, a storehouse, and the crutins. Chalk crystals protrude from the cut rock walls, a geological detail visible throughout the facility.

Wines

The range opens with Roero Arneis, a DOC white from Arneis grapes grown in Canale's sandy Roero soils. Arneis here is aromatic and stone-fruited, with modest acidity and a soft, rounded texture.

Barbera d'Alba comes from Castellinaldo, where the grape's deep colour and firm acidity are the defining characteristics. Entry-level Barbera from this address is vinified with less oak contact; reserve expressions spend longer in barrel, adding weight to the high-acid fruit.

The Langhe Nebbiolo DOC sits in the middle of the range and is built from Nebbiolo lots drawn from multiple communes. The producer deliberately blends across municipal boundaries to add complexity. The 2018 vintage showed blood orange, fine spice and white pepper on the nose, with violet and morello cherry adding depth. The palate carries Nebbiolo's characteristic firm tannin alongside noticeable freshness.

Roero Nebbiolo from Valmaggiore is the lighter, more floral expression of the grape on sandy soils, a different register from the Langa-side bottlings.

Barolo comes from Monforte d'Alba MGAs, the officially designated single-vineyard or sub-zone sites within the DOCG. These are wines with the tannic weight and cellar requirement that define the appellation.

Barbaresco from the Ovello cru in the Neive subzone is the other DOCG wine, typically showing firm tannic architecture and the ability to develop over many years in bottle.

The range also includes traditional-method sparkling wine.

In The Glass

The Langhe Nebbiolo sets the clearest picture of what the estate does with Nebbiolo outside the two DOCG wines. Violet and morello cherry come first from the glass, followed by white pepper and fine spice that build as the wine opens. On the palate, the tannin is present but not harsh, and the acidity keeps the wine lively through to a clean finish. Blood orange adds a citrus brightness that the spice gradually overtakes with air. The wine is full without being heavy, and the multi-commune sourcing shows as a layered mid-palate rather than a single dominant note.

The Arneis is quieter and rounder: stone fruit, white flower, and a soft finish without the acidity that drives the Nebbiolo-based wines.

The Barolo and Barbaresco are wines with long trajectories. Fresh, they show the compressed tannin and fruit depth of Nebbiolo grown on limestone-veined clay. Both need time for the tannin to soften and the secondary aromas, dried rose, tar, and forest floor, to emerge.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Langhe Nebbiolo DOC. It is a cross-commune Nebbiolo blend, not a single-vineyard wine, and that is precisely what makes it the right first bottle from this estate: it reflects the producer's territorial thinking across several parcels rather than one address. The wine gives Nebbiolo's signature aromatic register, violet, morello cherry, white pepper and spice, without the extended ageing requirement of the Barolo or Barbaresco. The tannin is firm and identifiable but not a barrier. At this level the wine is approachable in its first few years, yet it carries enough depth to hold for five or more. It costs less than the DOCG wines and requires less patience. Open it an hour before pouring.

Anecdote

Ernesto Faccenda came to wine sideways. He ran a butcher's shop in Canale and sold cured meats, and in 1950 he bought one hectare of vineyard in the Roero hills not as a statement of intent but as an extension of a life already built around local produce. The early harvests went out in demijohns to neighbours and nearby restaurants. No label, no estate name. When Ernesto's son Federico and his wife Maddalena decided to bottle and sell under the family name, they needed a place to receive visitors. They converted part of the building and kept Ernesto's marble counter from the delicatessen. It still stands in the tasting room today: a long slab of pale stone that once held salumi and now sits in the middle of a wine operation covering more than 50 hectares and two of Piemonte's most famous appellations.

Final Word

Cascina Chicco is a Roero estate that has grown into the Langhe without abandoning its original logic: match the grape to the ground. The range from Arneis to Barolo is wider than most estates of comparable size, but each wine maps to a specific commune and a specific soil type. The Langhe Nebbiolo is the place to start.

Sources

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