Cantina Del Pino

Cantina del Pino has some of the oldest vineyards in Barbaresco. The vineyards were established nearly a hundred years ago by the former director of the Royal Enological School in Alba, Domizio Cavazza, who first called wine produced in that area from Nebbiolo grapes Barbaresco. The company is named after a pine tree he planted to mark the birth of his first son, and while his family did not take up the business after he died, the Vacca family who took over after him have maintained it ever since, now on their fourth generation. The Vineyards and winery are all family-managed. Nebbiolo grapes come from the younger vines of the Ovello and Albesani vineyards, two of the best sites of Barbaresco. Barbera and Dolcetto come from surrounding areas in the Piedmont and Langhe and are vinified differently than the Barbarescos. Cantina del Pino produces three Barbarescos, a Langhe Nebbiolo, a Barbera d’Alba, and a Dolcetto d’Alba, as well as a Langhe Freisa. No chemical fertilizers, and vineyards are managed with an extreme respect to the enviroment. Vines average 40 years old. Wines are neither fined nor filtered. Today, the estate is managed by the fourth generation winemaker Renato Vacca, although his parents, aunts, uncles and friends all help with production.  Until 1997, their grapes were entirely sold to the Produttori del Barbaresco cooperative; Renato’s better known cousin, Aldo Vacca, manages the Produttori del Barbaresco.  Renato Vacca now produces his own wine.  He sees his methods of minimalist intervention as the key to producing wines that reflect the terroir.