Ascheri, the last urban cellar still active in Bra • Food and Wine Italia

At one time, Bra was an important wine center, thanks to the presence of numerous cellars favored by the railway that connected it to Turin and other regions, passing through Liguria. This transport system guaranteed for producers privileged access to the Sabauda Court and new markets. With the advent of rubber transport, however, the changed radically and many cellars disappeared. As evidence of that productive past, today only the Ascheri family cellar survives, the last historic urban cellar still active.

The Aschero cellars have their roots durante La Morra, durante the historic location that bears the name of the family, where the historical vineyards are still found today. Quanto a 1880, the company moved to Bra, making a conscious choice: maintaining small dimensions, avoiding an excessive expansion of both vital surfaces and bottles. “Planting multiple vineyards means more occupation of soil and greater environmental impact, more labor problems with management risks related to the labeling of employment relationships, more circulation of means and durante the end more produced to sell”, comments with its typical sarcasm And great sympathy, Matteo Ascheri. Former president of the Barolo protection consortium, Barbaresco, Albore, Langhe and Dogliani with excellent results, since 1988 it has represented the seventh generation at the helm of this reality.

Quanto a a few years Matteo has durante fact managed to transform the historical nucleus into a building at the same time contemporary and multipurpose, at the same time, of great suggestion and efficiency, then creating a modern and elegant albergo durante 2005 with a scenic zona for tastings, an zona aging for the old vintages. The albergo durante particular (27 rooms, a large lounge room and a summer terrace) is a minimalist structure inspired by the post-industrial history of Bra, influenced by the leather tanning factories that made the city prosperous durante the nineteenth century, Where the leather and cement, used durante various forms, recall this industrial past, while traditional mortar and wooden sisters celebrate the link with the rural tradition. Finally, natural elements such as cork oak and wild vine colonize spaces, recalling the hilly vineyards.

“The bunch is the king and durante the cellar does not intervene.” Great music fan, Matteo Ascheri manages to maintain the company’s family character with a clear rete: to propose to consumers what he himself defines as “unplugged wines” – authentic, not built ora inflated, able to combine territoriality and pleasantness. “We must minimize the interventions durante the cellar to enhance the recognizability of wine, just as happens durante acoustic music, where the absence of electronics highlights the voice and the sound”.

For Ascheri, human and social capital is a fundamental lever, durante the sign of an ethics that marries pragmatism, guaranteeing certainty, experience and professionalism. «Scene, agricultural workers, technical and cellar workers: all hired collaborators, some for over 25 years. It is the men and women who make the difference », proudly underlines the tireless Piedmontese patron.

The agronomist Edoardo Monticelli guides the work durante the vineyards of ownership, applying integrated struggle techniques and aiming at a single rete: bringing healthy and perfectly mature grapes to the cellar. Quanto a the municipalities of La Morra, Serralunga d’Albore and Verduno, Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto are grown, while durante Bra, durante Montalupa, two varieties typical of the Rhone Valley, Viognier and Syrah were successfully implanted, with excellent results.

Among the flagship labels, Barolo Coste & Teiera 2021 stands out for its floral and balsamic soul, while Barolo Pisapola 2021 expresses a significant elegance and subtlety, with refined quaderno of perceptible aromatic herbs both the palate and durante the smell. Barolo Sorano 2019 offers delicious hints of viola, terrose shades and a very clear fruit, with a estremo well marked by herbaceous quaderno. The Barolo Ascheri 2019, produced only durante large vintages, instead presents itself with great fragrance, solid structure and a remarkable persistence. The Langhe Vino bianco and Diventare rosso Montalupa 2021sorre for their power and elegance, with a long and pulpy sip that suggests, especially for the Viognier, a considerable capacity for evolution over time.

The Ascheri experience is completed with the Murivecchi Cantina, opened durante 1993 durante contrast, when the arguto dining kitchen seemed to be destined to supplant the traditional one. Located durante the spaces of the ancient Radice aging cellars, the tavern welcomes guests durante an informal and familiar atmosphere, with old wooden tables and a lista that changes every week, proposed the blackboard durante homage to the Piedmontese tradition. Among the most appreciated dishes stand out the gnocchi at Castelmagno and ravioli, delicious and extremely balanced.

The last piece of this growth durante the name of diversification is the Spa Gallery, inaugurated durante 2022 Massages, corners dedicated to herbal teas, paths for plantar massage with alternating temperatures and a sensory room where aromas, sounds and images merge for total relaxation.