Our winery has a maximum capacity of 330 hectolitres and because of our concentration on the quality of the wine, we do not use sophisticated technologies but concentrate on producing grapes that can give excellent wine. However, we do use modern machines for bottling and labelling.

The average production is between 15,000 and 20,000 bottles a year. We only produce wine from our own grapes from our own vineyard: Cortese and Dolcetto. On one side we produce the traditional wines of the county of Ovada: Dolcetto di Ovada and Cortese dell’Alto Monferrato. On the other side we amplified the range, introducing specialities always from Dolcetto and Cortese, enabling us to realise the full potential of the two grapes.

During harvest the grapes are carefully selected in order to produce the specific style required for each bottle to reach our high standard. The decision is taken observing the level of ripeness.

Our normal harvest begins in September, but to produce “Valli dell’Oro”, our sweet wine for dessert, two small vineyards will not be harvested for another month, around the second half of October. This ensures that they have the correct concentration of flavour.

The immediate harvest of Cortese is divided in two lots: the first passes the fermentation in steel tanks under controlled temperature, the second remains in maceration and is pressed only after five days similarly to Dolcetto. After the pressing the young wine still in fermentation is transferred into oak barrels of 500 litres, it is then aged for 10 months on the yeast. In that time it is necessary to remix the sediments of the wine (bâtonage) to guarantee the freshness of the product that will be our “Curtéis”.

The winemaking of Dolcetto is more traditional than that of Cortese. Fundamental for the decision of the wine type (vino da tavola, Dolcetto di Ovada, Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore) is the level of ripeness which is the most important and the length of time in maceration to ensure the different level of extraction of colour and tannins.

This period can be from 6 to 7days to 25 days. The quantity destined to Dolcetto di Ovada Superiore is divided: one part is aged in steel tanks, the other in old barriques, which are old to avoid that the taste of oak and vanilla which could taint the original aromas of the grape. The aging in barriques allows a micro-ossigenation of the wine that otherwise would only be guaranteed by continuous removal with risk of losing aromas.

An additional type of Dolcetto is our rosé “Ciarèt” (Monferrato Chiaretto DOC). The must is separated from the lot of the Dolcetto di Ovada after a maximum of 12 hours after harvest. If the measure happens too late the extraction of colour and tannins is too advanced. Because the grapes are the same for Monferrato Chiaretto and Dolcetto di Ovada we consider the rosé being on the same quality level as the red wines.