Yesterday I had the chance to talk to Paolo Aiassa, director of the Terre dei Santi co-operative, as part of my research for The Wines of Piemonte in the Classic Wine Library. I love co-operatives when the wine is good and it certainly is here. Here are my reflections on another fascinating wine co-operative in Piemonte. And this one carries an important part of the history and culture of winemaking in it region.
Co-operatives play an important role in Monferrato, as in all parts of Piemonte. Everyone who loves Barbaresco is a fan of Produttori del Barbaresco and the quality wines of Pertinace, Arnaldo Rivera and Vite Colte should be better known than they are.
Terre dei Santi – embodying the history and culture of wine between Turin and Asti
The Terre dei Santi co-operative embodies the history of the wine business in northwest Monferrato. Its members tend their vines in the area between, from east to west, Turin and Asti and, from north to south, between Castelnuovo Don Bosco and San Damiano d’Asti. This is an historically important area for vine growing, now overshadowed by Piemonte’s more famous denominations.
Proximity to Turin has been a double-edged sword. In the past, before transporting wine was easy, the area had a ready market on its doorstep in Turin. However, the economic post-WW2 boom meant that many farmers left the land to work in the Turin’s Fiat factory. Agriculture and viticulture had to adapt dramatically, no longer merely providing everyday wine. The co-operatives provided a way for families to hang on to the one to two hectares of vineyard that they had while they worked in the new industrial and services that grew up in the latter part of the last century. Such tiny plots could not support a family. Nor did people have the resources or knowledge to make wine to a professional standard and, even more difficult, to market and sell it. It was precisely these services that a co-operative can offer. And with the advantage of a sense of belonging to your local area. This underpins why Terre dei Santi is a fascinating wine co-operative in Piemonte.
Local grape varieties
The area is also home to several local varieties that thrive here but are little known elsewhere. First among these is undoubtedly Freisa, Nebbiolo’s rustic cousin but there is also a range of aromatic, red varieties – Malvasia di Schierano, Malvasia Lunga Nera and the very rare Cari. More mainstream varieties are also grown, Barbera of course, Nebbiolo for Albugnano DOC, Bonarda and Arneis, plus some international varieties.
| Finibus Terrae, Piemonte DOC Freisa, 2017, 13.5% | 100% Freisa grown in Chieri and NW Asti. 8 days maceration, FT 26º C, removal of the seeds. Aged for 24 months in botti di rovere | Mid ruby with a garnet tint; smoke, flint dominate red fruit, intense palate with some volume too, plenty of fruit to balance the tannins, well integrated, long, 16.5 |
The land of the saints
Terre dei Santi (the land of the saints) refers principally to two saints. First, there is the local Giovanni Don Bosco (1815–88) whose name was incorporated into the name of the town Castelnuovo Don Bosco in 1930. Second, the martyr of Roman times, Damian’s name was given to San Damiano d’Asti. Today’s co-operative is the product of a merger between two former co-operatives based in those towns. The former co-operatives namechecked their most important grape variety. These were Cantina del Barbera di San Damiano d’Asti and Cantina Sociale del Freisa di Castelnuovo Don Bosco.
| Cari, Collina Torinese DOC, 2019, 6% | 100% Cari aka Pelaverga di Pagno from the hills near Baldissero Torinese. 2 days cold maceration, single interrupted fermentation in pressure-resistant tank, max. 18 ºC, | Pretty, pale cherry red in colour, with matching floral and red cherry fruit, sweet but not jammy. It perhaps lacks a bit of fruit intensity but this is a very pleasant wine with sufficient acidity and light tannins. 15.5/20 |
| Freisa di Chieri DOC Spumante, Vino Spumante di Qualità Aromatico, Dolce, NV, 6% | 100% Freisa grown on the hill of Turin area around the town of Chieri. Three days cold maceration, single interrupted fermentation in pressure-resistant tank, max. 18 ºC, | Pale ruby in colour with an orange tint, a medium intensity nose with strawberry and raspberry fruit. It is sweet and a touch syrupy on the palate but the wine holds together well. An approachable and easy to drink wine from a tough variety, 15.5/20. |
The advantage of being a co-operative
Paolo Aiassa, at first agronomist and today director of the co-operative, explained the advantages of a co-operative. While there are 150 members of the co-operative tending 350 hectares, there are no fewer than 2,500 individual vineyards. Such fragmentation could be seen as a disadvantage. However, the co-operative advises the growers and towards the end of the season receives a weekly photographic record of key vineyards which it can study alongside the analytical data it receives. Based on this information, precise harvest dates can be determined and communicated to growers. Thus, for Freisa, there are no fewer than nine separate bottlings in various styles. Thus, there are still red wines from two Freisa denominations in several quality levels, rosé, sparkling and semi-sparkling, wines with different levels of sweetness and finally even a Freisa Chinato. Based on their data and the photos, the co-operative plans when individual vineyards are to be harvested in relation to the particular wine to be made. This is all a very long way from the past when the farmer simply turned up with his grapes and was paid by weight and without any concern whether the co-operative was ready to process the grapes. There is also rigorous quality selection with a grading system that means that the reward to the grower ranges between a multiplier of one to four for the same grape variety. There is a huge incentive here to grow the best grapes possible.
| Terre Alfieri DOCG Arneis, 2020, 13% | 100% Arneis from the Colline Alfieri near San Damiano d’Asti. Soft press and fermented at 17ºC, aged in stainless steel tanks until 1 March; | Tiny hint of gold in a pale lemon wine, fresh lemon with floral and stony notes, v good flavour intensity on the palate, balancing medium acidity, very good length, dry and stony finish, 16+ |
A wide range of wines is made with the most interesting being the multiple styles of Freisa, the local specialist denominations (Albugnano DOC for Nebbiolo, Terre Alfieri DOCG for Arneis and Nebbiolo) and, of course, the sweet, red semi-sparkling aromatic wines made from the two Malvasias and Cari. The top line of reds is marketed under the Finibus Terrae label (which we could paraphrase as ‘aiming to produce the maximum expression of the land’). Terre dei Santi’s wines are worth seeking out to enjoy and to understand the local wine culture of this area. It really is another fascinating wine co-operative in Piemonte.
