Italy · Monferrato & Asti

Cascina La Barbatella

A five-hectare organic estate in Nizza Monferrato built around a parcel of Barbera vines planted in 1950. The flagship La Vigna dell'Angelo is 100% Barbera from that parcel, aged a minimum of 18 months with at least six in wood under the Nizza DOCG.

The producer

Cascina La Barbatella sits on a south-facing chalk-and-sand slope at 700 feet in Nizza Monferrato, a commune in the province of Asti where the Nizza DOCG defines a distinct zone within broader Barbera d'Asti territory. The estate's Barbera parcel was planted in 1950. Those vines produce the grapes for La Vigna dell'Angelo, the flagship wine: 100% Barbera, 15 to 20 days of skin maceration in temperature-controlled steel, then at least 18 months of aging with six in wood. Full south exposure at elevation allows the old vines to ripen evenly; the chalk and sand soils drain freely, keeping the fruit defined and Barbera's naturally high acidity integrated rather than sharp.

Angelo Sonvico founded the estate in 1982. He and enologist Giuliano Noè planted Cabernet Sauvignon and other French varieties alongside the Barbera, which the local community found difficult to understand. The Barbera-Cabernet blend that came from those rows, Sonvico, has been in the range for more than four decades. Lorenzo and Cinzia Perego bought the estate in 2010 and redirected the farming toward organic practice, avoiding synthetic chemicals and encouraging vineyard biodiversity. Production is small: five hectares, around 1,700 cases a year.

Known for

Barbera under the Nizza DOCG from a single parcel planted in 1950, aged to the vineyard-designated minimum of 18 months.

Notable facts

The story

The planting nobody thought would work

In 1982, when Angelo Sonvico and enologist Giuliano Noè decided to plant Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and other French varieties into the Barbera vineyard at Nizza Monferrato, local producers made their view known. The Monferrato hills had no tradition for French varieties, and the decision looked like an outsider's mistake or a winemaker's vanity project. Sonvico and Noè planted anyway. The vines took hold, the wines were made, and the Barbera-Cabernet blend that came from those rows proved durable enough to outlast the original criticism. It carries Sonvico's name on the label today, more than four decades after the planting that nobody thought would work.

From the atlas

Cascina La Barbatella

At A Glance

Estate: Cascina La Barbatella Location: Nizza Monferrato, province of Asti, Piemonte Founded: 1982 Owners: Lorenzo and Cinzia Perego (since 2010) Size: Five hectares Production: Approximately 1,700 cases per year Farming: Organic, without synthetic chemicals Key Appellation: Nizza DOCG Flagship: La Vigna dell'Angelo Nizza DOCG

---

The Producer

Cascina La Barbatella farms five hectares on Strada Annunziata in Nizza Monferrato, a commune in the province of Asti where the Nizza DOCG carves out a distinct zone within broader Barbera d'Asti territory. The estate's Barbera parcel was planted in 1950: those vines produce the grapes for La Vigna dell'Angelo, the flagship Nizza DOCG wine aged a minimum of 18 months with at least six of those in wood.

Angelo Sonvico founded the estate in 1982 alongside enologist Giuliano Noè. The founding decision that defined the estate's character was also its most divisive: Sonvico and Noè planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and other French varieties in a landscape that had no tradition for them. The local reaction was sharp. The wines that came from those plantings eventually proved their critics wrong, and the Barbera-Cabernet blend now carries Sonvico's name.

Lorenzo and Cinzia Perego bought the estate in 2010 and farm it without synthetic chemicals, encouraging biodiversity in the vineyard. Production remains small: five hectares, around 1,700 cases a year, and a member listing with the Associazione Produttori del Nizza.

---

Place

Nizza Monferrato sits in the southern part of the province of Asti, in the Monferrato hills of Piemonte. The Nizza DOCG is an appellation within that commune and its surrounding core zone, created to distinguish higher-quality, longer-aged Barbera grown in this specific territory from the broader Barbera d'Asti DOC that covers much of the surrounding region. Nizza DOCG requires 100% Barbera and imposes stricter aging minimums than the parent DOC. Vineyard-designated wines, like La Vigna dell'Angelo, must age at least 18 months, six of which in wood.

The Barbatella estate sits on a south-facing slope at roughly 700 feet of elevation. Full sun exposure across the growing season allows the Barbera vines to achieve consistent ripeness, which matters for the Nizza DOCG's aging demands: ripe Barbera holds enough fruit and body to carry wood and extended bottle time without losing its character. The south aspect also drives even, gradual ripening rather than the concentration spikes that come from hotter, lower-lying parcels.

---

Soil And Site

The soils at Barbatella are chalk and sand with strong natural drainage. Chalk retains just enough moisture to sustain vines through dry periods while the sandy component ensures water moves freely and roots dig deep rather than sitting in wet ground. Deep root systems in free-draining soils generally produce grapes with tighter, more concentrated flavour and better natural acidity than vines grown on heavier, wetter land. For Barbera, a grape that already carries high natural acidity, that combination sharpens rather than amplifies: the fruit stays defined, the acid stays integrated, and the wines age with more composure.

The 1950 Barbera parcel has had seven decades to send roots through that chalk and sand. Old vines on free-draining soils produce smaller yields and more concentrated fruit, which is why the estate selects specifically from those rows for La Vigna dell'Angelo rather than blending across the whole vineyard.

---

Story

Angelo Sonvico and Giuliano Noè founded Cascina La Barbatella in 1982 in what was established Barbera country. They made a choice that the local wine community found difficult to understand: alongside the Barbera, they planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and other French varieties. In the Monferrato hills of the early 1980s, that decision read as either ambition or ignorance. The estate's own account is clear that it was criticised.

The French varieties took hold. The Barbera-Cabernet blend that resulted became Sonvico, named for the founder, a wine that has remained in the range for more than forty years. It is now a historical document as much as a bottle: evidence that the estate was built on a contrarian winemaking argument, and that the argument held.

In 2010, Lorenzo and Cinzia Perego acquired the estate. They committed to the Sonvico legacy while redirecting the farming toward organic practice: no synthetic chemicals, active encouragement of vineyard biodiversity. La Vigna dell'Angelo continued as the Nizza DOCG flagship. The Riserva version extended what the standard bottling had already established. The rest of the range, including the long-aged Chardonnay Non è and the traditional-method sparkling wine La Badessa, expanded the estate's reach beyond Barbera without abandoning its Nizza core.

---

Vineyards And Cellar

The 1950 Barbera vines occupy the south-facing chalk-and-sand slope at 700 feet. For La Vigna dell'Angelo, the estate selects from the best rows of that parcel only, a decision that concentrates the work of the oldest, deepest-rooted vines into a single wine rather than averaging them across the whole harvest.

Skin maceration for La Vigna dell'Angelo runs 15 to 20 days in temperature-controlled steel tanks, with pumping over and punching down throughout. Extended skin contact at controlled temperatures extracts colour, tannin and aromatic compounds from the Barbera skins without cooking the fruit or driving off the freshness that Barbera's natural acidity provides. The wine then spends at least six months in wood as part of the Nizza DOCG minimum of 18 months total aging. Wood contact softens the Barbera's firm tannin without masking the variety's characteristic cherry and plum fruit.

Sonvico, the Barbera-Cabernet blend, also ages in wood. Non è, the Chardonnay, ferments and ages in barrel and is held for extended maturation before release. La Badessa, the traditional-method sparkling wine made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, undergoes secondary fermentation in bottle and extended lees aging, which gives it a dense, bread-like texture rather than the lighter character of shorter-aged sparkling wines.

---

Wines

The Nizza DOCG wines sit at the centre of the range. La Vigna dell'Angelo is 100% Barbera from the 1950 parcel, with 15 to 20 days of skin maceration and a minimum of 18 months aging including six in wood. In the glass it runs dark and concentrated, with cherry and dried plum fruit, firm tannin from the extended maceration, and a long acid-edged finish that reflects both the grape and the chalk soil beneath. The La Vigna dell'Angelo Riserva draws from the same parcel and grape but carries additional aging, pushing the tannin further into integration and the fruit into a more dried, compressed register.

Sonvico, the Monferrato Rosso DOC, blends Barbera with Cabernet Sauvignon and ages in wood. The Cabernet adds body and dark fruit alongside the Barbera's native acidity, producing a wine with more structural grip than a straight Barbera and a different mid-palate weight. It is the estate's historical argument in bottle form.

Non è, the Piemonte Chardonnay DOC, is 100% Chardonnay fermented and aged in barrel. The name means roughly "it is not" in Italian, a deliberate signal that this is not what most people expect from Piemontese white wine. Extended maturation before release gives it a rounded, savoury texture rather than the fresh, early-drinking profile of lighter Chardonnay.

La Badessa is a traditional-method sparkling wine made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Secondary fermentation in bottle and extended lees contact build a fine persistent mousse and a creamy, yeast-driven texture that sits against the wine's natural acidity.

---

In The Glass

La Vigna dell'Angelo opens with dark cherry, plum skin and a faint dried herb note that comes from the long skin maceration. On the palate the fruit is concentrated but not heavy: the chalk and sand soils keep the Barbera from going jammy, and the grape's naturally high acidity runs through the mid-palate as a firm line that lifts the fruit rather than flattening it. Tannin from the extended maceration is present and grip-firm in younger vintages, softening with the wood aging but remaining part of the wine's architecture at release. The finish is long, dry and acid-edged, with the oak sitting in the background rather than at the front. The wine holds and improves in bottle.

The Riserva pushes the dried-fruit character further and the tannin deeper. Sonvico adds Cabernet's darker berry fruit and more obvious grip to the blend, with a heavier mid-palate than the pure Barbera wines. Non è is broad and savoury in the mouth from barrel fermentation and aging, with a creamy texture and more body than its Piemontese address might suggest. La Badessa is dense and bread-crusted on the nose from lees contact, with fine bubbles and a clean, dry finish.

---

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with La Vigna dell'Angelo Nizza DOCG, the standard release rather than the Riserva. It is 100% Barbera from the 1950 parcel: 15 to 20 days of skin maceration in steel, then at least 18 months of aging with six in wood, then bottle. That sequence is visible in the glass. Dark cherry and plum on the nose, a concentrated mid-palate with firm but integrated tannin, a long dry finish with Barbera's characteristic acid line running clean through to the end. No sweetness, no heavy oak, no softening of the grape's natural character. The wine explains the Nizza DOCG from the inside: what 70-year-old Barbera vines on chalk and sand produce, what the Nizza aging minimum does to that fruit, and why this appellation exists separately from the broader Barbera d'Asti DOC.

---

Anecdote

In 1982, when Angelo Sonvico and enologist Giuliano Noè decided to plant Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and other French varieties into the Barbera vineyard at Nizza Monferrato, local producers made their view known. The Monferrato hills had no tradition for French varieties, and the decision looked like an outsider's mistake or a winemaker's vanity project. Sonvico and Noè planted anyway. The vines took hold, the wines were made, and the Barbera-Cabernet blend that came from those rows proved durable enough to outlast the original criticism. It carries Sonvico's name on the label today, more than four decades after the planting that nobody thought would work.

---

Final Word

Cascina La Barbatella is a five-hectare estate built around one parcel and one conviction: that Barbera grown on chalk and sand at 700 feet in the Nizza core zone, from vines planted in 1950, is worth the full Nizza DOCG treatment. La Vigna dell'Angelo makes that argument with every vintage. The rest of the range, from the Barbera-Cabernet historical document to the long-aged Chardonnay and the traditional-method sparkling wine, maps the estate's broader ambitions without losing sight of the hill.

---

Sources

Open Cascina La Barbatella in the interactive map →