CANTINA TERRE DEI SANTI Soc. Coop. Agr.

About Winery and Wines

Terre dei Santi was established in 2004, the fruit of the union of Cantina del Barbera di San Damiano d’Asti with Cantina Sociale del Freisa di Castelnuovo Don Bosco, whose origins go back to 1953.

The union of the two winemaking cooperatives launched one of central Piedmont’s most important wine producers. Its 150 grower-members cultivate over 320 hectares of vines, subdivided into 2,500 individual vineyards in three centuries-old growing areas, Chieri, an area southwest of the hills of Turin; the area of Castelnuovo, an extensive area of hills in northwestern Monferrato, and the San Damiano d’Asti hills, which extend northeast of the Roero district, within the boundaries of the Terre Alfieri denomination.

The classic grape varieties here are malvasia di Schierano, also called malvasia corta, and malvasia nera lunga, both grown here since the 16th century as malvaticus. Today, they are used to produce Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco DOC, a sweet, naturally-sparkling wine that Terre dei Santi makes in several styles. But this zone also cultivates the greatest amount of the freisa grape in the Freisa d’Asti denomination and of nebbiolo in the Albugnano denomination.

Geologically, the formation of the Castelnuovo hills originated in the Messinian stage of the Miocene, when the entire Piedmont basis was submerged beneath the sea. Turbidity currents created enormous mounds of sediment on the marine floor, which through a later process of compacting, and became a hill system, which was among the first features to emerge when the waters retreated. That process yielded several characteristic phenomena, among them the chalk accumulations still visible today across the area. The Castelnovese can be divided into three distinct zones, a central band, marked by soils with a sandy chalk matrix, which gives lively colour and outstanding structure to the wines, producing products of impressive longevity, in particular Barbera d’Asti. A northern band lies south of the township of Pino d’Asti, extending through Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Mondonio, Morialdo, and Ranello; fluvial deposits predominate, with generous areas of löss, which feature banks of fairly fine sand. Such soils are particularly suited to the cultivation of Bonarda. Finally, a southern band is composed of tuff and sand alternating with bare rock, classic to a mountain environment. There, in the denomination of Albugnano, whose hills reach a height of 549 metres, the elevation and the forests cool the climate, making it the ideal habitat for nebbiolo, heightening its acidity and aromatic complexity.