Cavallotto

cavallotto-logo.jpgA family of grape-growers for generations. One family, one cellar, one unique hill: the Bricco Boschis. This is a place rich in history where the vines found their ideal home, in a superb microclimate and with geologic structures that contain an ideal mix of calcareous marl and sand.

The vines of the Cavallotto Winery are found on a hill, the Bricco Boschis, where sedimentary deposits of the Langhian and Tortonian ages meet. The secret of Cavallotto Barolo is truly here: the older calcareous marl and the younger sand veins (through which water flows and hydrates the plants) give us wines of great equilibrium and aromatic complexity. This is a unique characteristic in the Barolo zone, and herein lies the real identity of the wines of Cavallotto.

The farm, which was officially founded in 1928, along with the vineyards and winery, are the beating heart of the Cavallotto family’s work. The family personally supervises all of the winery activities from the vineyards to cellars.

After the 1960s, Gildo and Olivio Cavallotto became impatient with and worried by the continued increases in the use of dangerous chemical products such as miticides, pesticides, herbicides and many other systemic chemicals – those that work by being absorbed into the plant’s vascular system.

With the help of the faculty of the University of Agronomic Sciences in Torino, the Institute for Experimental Viticulture in Asti, the San Michele Agrarian Institue of the Alto Adige and with the Agronomist ot the Direct Cultivators Group of Alba, the Cavallotto brothers decided to perform a complete “reset” on their viticultural practices, becoming the first to work in a sustainable methodology.

In 1974 the family began experiments with native cover crops instead of the then-common practice of complete clearing of vegetation between the vines, which had typically been achieved through a combination of tilling and chemical herbicides. In this way both the use of herbicides and tractor tilling was abolished in the vineyard; the latter resulted in extreme soil compaction. By preserving the upper layers of the soil, erosion due to rainfall and water runoff was slowed.

In 1976 the Cavallottos experimented with a radical idea, an agronomic practice that would allow the complete abandonment of chemical pesticides: the re-introduction of predatory insects to control destructive red spider mites. Since then the vineyards of Bricco Boschis have produced healthy, ripe fruit without any use of synthetic pesticides.

In 2010 trials were performed for a lasting and permanent vineyard sustainability that entailed a drastic reduction – up to not using at all – in the use of copper. This result was obtained through the use of essential oils of plants and herbs such as sage, ivy, aloe vera, yucca, cinquefoil, quillaia and certain algae species.

Even though the grapes produced today at the Tenuta Cavallotto are of absolute quality and authenticity, the family continues to test natural products and agronomic practices that minimize the use of heavy machinery and tractors towards the goal of continuous improvement in the vineyard, in the winery and in the wines.

We highly encourage a visit to the winery's gorgeous website, where you can find in full detail the incredible history of Cavallotto.

Quick Facts

Winery: Cavallotto
Region: Piemonte (Piedmont)
Locale: Bricco Boschis, Castiglione Falleto
Farming: Organic

 

Available Selections

visit-the-winery.jpg