LA CASTELLA
Just outside the village of Roddino, right across the border with Serralunga d'Alba, lies the small family winery La Castella, hidden away. They own about 5 hectares of vineyards in the municipalities of Roddino and Sinio, planted with Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo, and Rossese Bianco. In the 1990s, father Silvio Cassino began labeling and marketing his own wines. Meanwhile, his two daughters, Elena and Monica, both graduated from Alba's renowned wine school. After Monica completed her postgraduate studies in viticulture at the prestigious Geisenheim University in Germany and returned home, a significant boost in quality followed, both in the vineyard and in the winery.
The family has always been proud to be the caretakers of the rare Rossese Bianco grape, a variety with Ligurian roots that can be found in the Langhe region, specifically in the municipalities of Sinio, Roddino, and Monforte d'Alba. The Nebbiolo comes from a beautiful borgo in Sinio called Bricco del Gallo, situated 500 meters above sea level and facing southwest. The soil there is similar to that of Serralunga, yielding outstanding Nebbiolo wines.
A little further towards Serralunga lies the borgo “La Castella,” where the winery was founded in the last century and where they own the surrounding vineyards. It is a small hamlet with a few houses, and until 2011, it was inhabited by Elena and Monica's grandfather. History is repeating itself, as the sisters are now renovating the borgo with plans to make it their home.