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Cascina Rabaglio

Small Barbaresco estate making two cru Nebbiolo wines from parcels across Alba, Treiso, and Neive, alongside Barbera, Dolcetto, Arneis, and Langhe Riesling.

The producer

Cascina Rabaglio sits just outside the historic center of Barbaresco, on land the Rigo family had farmed for a generation before wine entered the picture. Filippo and Daniela Rigo and their friend Andrea Salatin founded the estate in 2005, spent seven years growing Tonda Gentile hazelnuts and selling grapes, then committed to bottling wine in 2012. Filippo Rigo is the winemaker. The name comes from Rabaj, the Piedmontese-dialect word for the village where the farmhouse stands.

The range now covers two Barbaresco crus: Gaia Principe from Neive, aged in French barriques then large zero-toast Slavonian oak, and Meruzzano, a linear, racy Nebbiolo with taut fine-grained tannins and bright acidity. Nebbiolo d'Alba, Barbera d'Alba, Dolcetto d'Alba, Langhe Arneis, and Langhe Riesling fill out the portfolio. Tonda Gentile hazelnuts occupy the parcels on the estate that calcareous marl and aspect make unsuitable for vines.

Known for

Two-cru Barbaresco estate in the Langhe hills, combining Nebbiolo from Alba, Treiso, and Neive with Tonda Gentile hazelnuts on the same family land.

Notable facts

The story

Seven Harvests Before the First Bottle

Filippo and Daniela Rigo took on their grandfather's land in 2005 alongside Andrea Salatin, and for seven years they grew hazelnuts and sold grapes. The decision to bottle wine came in 2012. A practical reason lay behind the delay: hazelnuts generated income from the start, the grapes could be sold to negociants, and the three partners could learn the land on their own schedule before committing to the costs of a cellar, labels, and inventory. When Filippo Rigo finally made the first Cascina Rabaglio vintage, he did so on an estate whose rows he already knew season by season, in soil he had watched through seven harvests without once bottling what it grew. The name on the label comes from Rabaj, the Piedmontese-dialect word for the village where Giovanni Battista had worked before any of them were old enough to make wine.

Seven Harvests Before the First Bottle

Filippo and Daniela Rigo took on their grandfather's land in 2005 alongside Andrea Salatin, and for seven years they grew hazelnuts and sold grapes. The decision to bottle wine came in 2012. A practical reason lay behind the delay: hazelnuts generated income from the start, the grapes could be sold to negociants, and the three partners could learn the land on their own schedule before committing to the costs of a cellar, labels, and inventory. When Filippo Rigo finally made the first Cascina Rabaglio vintage, he did so on an estate whose rows he already knew season by season, in soil he had watched through seven harvests without once bottling what it grew. The name on the label comes from Rabaj, the Piedmontese-dialect word for the village where Giovanni Battista had worked before any of them were old enough to make wine.

From the atlas

Cascina Rabaglio

At A Glance

Producer: Cascina Rabaglio Country: Italy Region: Piedmont, Langhe Village: Barbaresco Grape: Nebbiolo (Barbaresco DOCG, Nebbiolo d'Alba), Barbera, Dolcetto, Arneis, Riesling Winemaker: Filippo Rigo Founded: 2005 (wine from 2012) Address: Strada Rabajà 8, 12050 Barbaresco, Cuneo

The Producer

Cascina Rabaglio sits just outside the historic center of Barbaresco, the Piedmontese hilltop village whose Nebbiolo wines have been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage landscape. Filippo and Daniela Rigo and their friend Andrea Salatin founded the estate in 2005, taking on land their grandfather Giovanni Battista had farmed. For seven years they grew Tonda Gentile hazelnuts and sold grapes. In 2012, Filippo Rigo began making wine.

That seven-year gap separates Cascina Rabaglio from estates that began with winemaking ambitions and retrofitted an agricultural story. The farm came first. The wine followed when the land and the three partners were ready.

The estate now makes two Barbaresco crus alongside Nebbiolo d'Alba, Barbera d'Alba, Dolcetto d'Alba, Langhe Arneis, and Langhe Riesling. Vineyards span three communes: Alba, Treiso, and Neive, covering the core Barbaresco production zone and its immediate surroundings. The hazelnuts have not gone anywhere. Tonda Gentile, the prized local variety used in Piedmontese confectionery, occupies the parcels on the estate considered unsuitable for vines.

Place

Barbaresco is one of the two great Nebbiolo appellations of the Langhe hills in Piedmont, the other being Barolo to the southwest. Both demand a minimum ageing period and both require 100 percent Nebbiolo, the grape that builds its character from tannin, acidity, and the slow transformation of those elements over years in bottle. Barbaresco produces wines that tend toward earlier accessibility than Barolo, though serious bottlings can age for decades.

The Barbaresco DOCG covers three communes: Barbaresco, Neive, and Treiso. Cascina Rabaglio draws from all three zones, with its cellar at Strada Rabajà 8 on the edge of the Barbaresco village itself. The Rabajà vineyard area, whose Piedmontese dialect name Rabaj gave the estate its name, sits on calcareous marl soils with clay, limestone, and sand. The Langhe climate runs temperate to cold, with a sub-continental character.

Soil And Site

The soils around Barbaresco are predominantly calcareous marl: a mix of clay and limestone with varying calcium content and amounts of sand depending on the precise position in the hills. These soils drain well, limit vine vigor, and push Nebbiolo to concentrate fruit in smaller berries. The clay fraction retains enough moisture through dry summers to sustain ripening without irrigation.

Vineyard parcels at Cascina Rabaglio cross three communes. The Neive vineyards, which supply the Gaia Principe cru, sit on their own exposures within that commune. The Meruzzano site gives the estate's second Barbaresco its name and its particular character. Parcels in Alba supply the Nebbiolo d'Alba and the other varietals in the range.

Story

Giovanni Battista farmed the land before any of the founders were making decisions about what to plant or sell. When Filippo and Daniela Rigo and Andrea Salatin founded Cascina Rabaglio in 2005, they were choosing to continue that history rather than start fresh. They registered an estate, kept the hazelnuts, sold the grapes, and spent seven years learning the land before they committed to bottling wine.

The decision to make wine in 2012 changed what the estate was. Filippo Rigo took on the winemaking role. The range grew from a single bottling to its current breadth: two Barbaresco crus with distinct origins and different ageing approaches, plus Nebbiolo d'Alba, Barbera, Dolcetto, Arneis, and a Langhe Riesling that has no obvious precedent in the regional hierarchy. The Riesling in particular signals a producer willing to experiment at the edges of a zone defined by one grape above all others.

Vineyards And Cellar

The parcels unsuitable for vines grow Tonda Gentile hazelnuts. Those suited to Nebbiolo become either Barbaresco or Nebbiolo d'Alba depending on commune and appellation qualification. Barbera, Dolcetto, Arneis, and Riesling fill out the range from the broader Langhe appellations.

Gaia Principe, the Barbaresco sourced from Neive, ages first in French barriques, then transfers to large Slavonian oak casks with no toast. Time in barrel is followed by several months in bottle before release. The barriques give initial frame; the large zero-toast Slavonian casks allow slow oxygen exposure without adding oak flavor. The result in the glass is a wine that carries fruit and grip rather than wood character.

Wines

The Barbaresco range divides into two named bottlings with different origins and different feels in the glass.

Gaia Principe comes from Neive, the easternmost of the three Barbaresco communes. The 2021 showed richly fruity aromatics with light quinine-like lift, a palate that ran severe and slender, and a persistent finish. The élevage in barriques then large Slavonian oak gives it frame without obvious oak flavor.

Meruzzano carries the name of the site that supplies it. The 2019 opened with iris, violet, forest berry, underbrush, and star anise. The palate was linear and racy, built on taut fine-grained tannins and bright acidity, with raspberry, Marasca cherry, baking spice, and liquorice carrying through to a long finish. Wine Enthusiast assessed it as a wine suited for drinking through 2034.

Nebbiolo d'Alba uses the same grape but under the lighter-framed Alba appellation, which permits a shorter minimum ageing period. Softer tannins and earlier approachability separate it from the Barbaresco bottlings.

Barbera d'Alba brings the high natural acidity and lower tannin typical of Barbera grown in this zone, giving the range a wine with fresh, darker fruit and more immediate drinkability than the Nebbiolo bottlings.

Dolcetto d'Alba rounds out the reds with the grape's characteristic bitter-cherry edge and naturally lower acidity than either Nebbiolo or Barbera.

Langhe Arneis and Langhe Riesling are the whites. Arneis is the indigenous Piedmontese variety, a low-acid, stone-fruit-driven white with a soft texture. The Langhe Riesling is the outlier: Riesling is not a traditional Langhe grape, and its presence signals deliberate range-building beyond the zone's standard portfolio.

In The Glass

The two Barbaresco crus show Nebbiolo's characteristic range: deep cherry, dried rose, anise, and earth on the nose; firm, fine-grained tannin and high acidity in the mouth; a long finish. Meruzzano's 2019 nose leaned toward iris, violet, and forest berry with underbrush and star anise, then carried raspberry, Marasca cherry, baking spice, and liquorice across the palate with racy acidity and taut tannin. The finish was long and dry.

Gaia Principe 2021 ran richer and fruitier in its aromatic register, with a quinine-like lift, and the palate turned severe and slender: less overt fruit, more grip and length. The Slavonian oak élevage pushes air through the wine without adding sweetness or wood flavor, keeping the tannins firm.

Nebbiolo d'Alba gives the same grape at a softer setting: less tannin, approachable earlier. Barbera arrives with brighter, darker fruit, notable freshness from its natural acidity, and no Nebbiolo tannin weight. Dolcetto adds bitter cherry and a soft, short finish. The whites sit at the edge of the range: Arneis is light-bodied, peachy, and low-acid; the Riesling, in this site, would be expected to show higher acidity and sharper fruit than the Arneis, though the specific character of Cascina Rabaglio's bottling remains to be observed in the glass.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with Barbaresco Meruzzano. The 2019 carried iris, violet, forest berry, and star anise on the nose, then moved to a linear, racy palate with taut fine-grained tannins, bright acidity, and raspberry, Marasca cherry, baking spice, and liquorice through to a long, dry finish. This is Nebbiolo grown in calcareous marl on the Barbaresco hill: aromatic, firm, and built to last past 2034. Meruzzano shows the grape and the place clearly, without the richer, more severe frame of Gaia Principe. It is a useful first bottle because the balance between fruit, tannin, and acidity is accessible while still being unambiguously Barbaresco.

Anecdote

Filippo and Daniela Rigo took on their grandfather's land in 2005 alongside Andrea Salatin, and for seven years they grew hazelnuts and sold grapes. The decision to bottle wine came in 2012. A practical reason lay behind the delay: hazelnuts generated income from the start, the grapes could be sold to negociants, and the three partners could learn the land on their own schedule before committing to the costs of a cellar, labels, and inventory. When Filippo Rigo finally made the first Cascina Rabaglio vintage, he did it on an estate whose rows he already knew season by season, in soil he had watched through seven harvests without once bottling what it grew. The name on the label comes from Rabaj, the Piedmontese-dialect word for the village where Giovanni Battista had worked before any of them were old enough to make wine.

Final Word

Cascina Rabaglio is a young estate with a clear sense of where it stands. The family land came before the winery, and the two Barbaresco crus reflect the range of the zone: Gaia Principe severe and fruit-rich from Neive, Meruzzano linear and racy from its own named site. For a producer that bottled its first wine in 2012, the range is already broad and the Meruzzano is already worth tracking into the next decade.

Sources

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