Barolo’s territories of origin are the basis of their endless expressions

It is often taken for granted in knowing everything about a historical territory, however, its wines never cease to amaze. The continuous study of the landscape and its evolutions help us to understand it.

Two crus at a short distance one from the other, two “different twins” with the same style given by the imprint of the winery, but with different characteristics. Two wines which gather the millenary history of the land and for this reason they can give different emotions.

Amalia Cascina in Langa’s Fantini vineyard is located within one of the most renowned crus in the history of Barolo, Bussia in Monforte d’Alba. Most of the Bussia cru extends for about three hundred hectares in the commune of Monforte d’Alba and for a small percentage in the commune of Barolo.

The Fantini vineyard parcel which belongs to the family of Gigi, Mariangela and Paolo Boffa is located in the highest part of the homonymous hill. With its 470 meters above sea level, it is also one of the highest areas of the whole MGA Bussia (Menzione Geografica Aggiuntiva, an equivalent of the French “cru”). MGAs indicate the precise place of production of their wines and being able to draw from this knowledge allows them to better define their exclusive qualitative characteristics.

An extraordinary help in order to have a better knowledge about the location and the value of vineyards in Barolo comes from the studies done by Alessandro Masnaghetti, a nuclear engineer overwhelmed by the passion for wine thanks to which as a journalist, researcher, publisher, he continues to give a lot to the world of wine. First in printed version, and now also available online www.barolomga360.it, his Encyclopedia of Great Vineyards helps to identify and understand the incomparable connection between product and territory, the only real distinctive element among quality productions – and it is surely itself a unique product in the wine world.

From the interactive maps proposed in Alessandro Masnaghetti’s web pages, we were able to realize an adaptation for our website –https://www.cascinaamalia.it/vigneti/vigneto-fantini-bussia/ – on which it is possible to identify, for example, the exact location of Vigneto Fantini di Amalia Cascina in Langa. Thanks to this knowledge it becomes almost intuitive to perceive in the glass the subtle difference that distinguishes it from other Barolo wines. Located on the opposite side of the Ginestra MGA, roughly between a small wooded area and the Salicetti locality of Monforte d’Alba, the Boffa family’s plot is about 0.63 hectares, the exposure is mainly south-west and the soils are the expression of the Diano sandstone, which has a looser and sandier texture than the rest of the Bussia area. The particular territorial characteristic of the Fantini vineyard means that these positions are typically hot enough to suggest early harvesting periods, but the altitude of the vineyard and the exposure to wind mitigate these accelerations.

The relationship between soil, exposure, and altitude gives Barolo Vigna Fantini a fruitier and more tense character than the rest of Bussia, but without renouncing the intensity which is typical of this MGA.

The other vineyard owned by Cantina Amalia Cascina in Langa is located in the MGA Barolo Le Coste di Monforte, which is also well identifiable on the map https://www.cascinaamalia.it/vigneti/vigneto-le-coste/.

The Le Coste di Monforte vineyard, which covers an area of 0.99 ha, is located almost in front of the winery itself, on the southern border of the Barolo appellation. The exposure rotates towards the south-east, a characteristic of the vineyard that gives the wine a good freshness and elegance. The soils consisting of the sandy marls of Sant’Agata Fossil are, despite the name, more clayey and compact than the ones in the Fantini area – which, as we have seen, within the Bussia MGA represents a real and proper case in itself.