Cascina Val Liberata

Biodynamic Winery in Monferrato

Farm

Cascina Val Liberata is a biodynamic farm founded by Deirdre and Maurizio in 2013. The farm is made up of 10 hectares of which 4 are composed of vineyard and the rest is mainly woodland. We grow four varieties of grape : Slarina (1.5 hectares), Baratuciàt (0.5 hectares), Grignolino (0.5 hectares) and Nebbiolo (1.5 hectares). In 2005 we discovered this part of Monferrato when we were at the time living in Ireland. We fell in love with the wild landscape which had been pretty much abandoned since after World War II. Over the subsequent years we repaired the old farmhouse , made a start at reclaiming the land and replanted the vineyards where they existed decades before. Soon after there was the natural progression to become biodynamic farmers. This has led us to a deeper understanding of how to work with nature, not against it and how through observation and timely action we are at the heart of the process.

Abbiamo circa 10 ettari di terreni di cui 4 ettari dedicati a vigneto: Slarina (1,5 ettari), Baratuciàt (0,5 ettari), Nebbiolo (1,5 ettari) e Grignolino (0,5 ettari).

Nel 2005 abbiamo scoperto questa parte del Monferrato quando entrambi vivevamo in Irlanda. Siamo rimasti affascinati da queste colline selvagge che la gente ha abbandonato nel dopoguerra e dove ora il bosco la fa da padrone.

Negli anni successivi abbiamo ristrutturato il casolare e abbiamo iniziato a recuperare i terreni abbandonati ripiantando i vigneti dove già esistevano decenni prima. Abbiamo iniziato da subito con la biodinamica che ci ha permesso di instaurare una più profonda connessione con la terra e dando un significato al nostro lavoro come contadini.

Our mission is to produce fruit that is Vital, that can evolve with minimal intervention in the cellar and become wines that reflect the work we do in the vineyard.

Vineyard

The work in the vineyard takes place throughout the whole year. From January we begin to prune during the descending moon and we carry out the cut branches from the vineyard. In March we begin tying the vines using willow shoots cultivated on the farm. In this way the fruiting branch is harmoniously in position for when the buds start to germinate. During Spring and Summer most of the work is dedicated to managing the vine’s vegetation and also doing the preventative treatments using biodynamic preparations, copper and powdered sulphur. The grapes are picked by hand starting with the Baratuciàt in early September and continuing up to October with the Nebbiolo. Thereafter the preparations begin for the vineyards rest period over the winter which includes either the planting of a cover crop or the spreading of compost.

Cellar

We use old reclaimed cement tanks for the fermentation and ageing of our wines. These vats were built at the beginning of the 20th century using pozzolanic cement as used by the ancient Romans, which originates from the volcanic earth at the foot of Vesuvio. Our wines do not undergo any clarification or filtering.