Date of visit: October 24, 2022
About the Producer & Our Visit to Cascina Disa
Located just a short drive from the center of town in Perno, surrounded by rows of vines, sits the humble Cascina Disa estate. When we arrived, Elio began by taking us into the vineyard, and spoke to us about his farming practices. The view from Elio’s vineyards is absolutely breathtaking, and provides the perfect vantage point for viewing some of Serralunga’s most coveted vineyards; Cappellano’s Gabutti, Giacomo Conterno’s Francia, Vigna Rionda, and more. After spending just a few minutes with Elio, it became evident that he has a pretty special connection with his vineyards, and the wines he produces. Elio’s incredibly passionate about what he does, and we got the impression early on that he’d rather be in his vineyards and cellar than just about anywhere else in the world. It came as no surprise, when we learned that Elio’s farming practices are very much hands off. We spoke about the unfortunate monoculture in Langhe’s landscape at the moment, which Elio expressed his disdain for. He explained that unfortunately, some winemaking estates are destroying nearby forests to make room for vines, namely Nebbiolo. In an effort to help combat this, Elio’s in the process of purchasing a nearby forest which he plans to leave undeveloped to help preserve Langhe’s ecosystem and biodiversity. A decision which we respect greatly.
Elio produces Dolcetto, Barbera, Langhe Nebbiolo, Barolo (a few different ones), and in some years “Ciman”. Production of all wines combined is a miniscule 30,000-35,000 bottles annually which includes; 1,000 bottles of Dolcetto, 4,500 of Barbera, and Langhe Nebbiolo, Barolo, and Ciman make up the remaining 25,000-30,0000 bottles.
Ciman, which means “cement” in Piemontese dialect, is a new wine for Elio, which he plans on producing only in exceptional vintages. His first and only vintage so far is 2013. The wine is produced from 100% Nebbiolo grapes, and for all intents and purposes could be Barolo. However, there’s one major factor which prevents it from being labeled as such, that is, this wine never sees any wood, it’s made 100% in cement. During our visit we were lucky enough to taste the 2019 from cement tank, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Having never seen any wood, this wine offers a very pure and fresh expression of Nebbiolo, which we happened to enjoy immensely. Elio hasn’t decided when he’ll release the 2019, but we can’t wait until he does.
Elio began making his way toward the winery, but before going inside, he veered left and approached two large cement tanks surrounded by trees. This was the first time we’d seen cement tanks located outside of a winery. He climbed up a ladder, and began pumping over Nebbiolo, which smelled heavenly. It gave him a great deal of pleasure, to see that we enjoyed the youthful Nebbiolo aromas as much as he did.
We followed Elio inside. The first room we entered was his office, which was covered wall-to-wall in bottles of wine, most of which were from other producers. We recognized many of these bottles, as they’re wines that we too enjoy very much. Looking back at these photos now, we have to laugh at the sausage which can be seen hanging from one of the beams on the ceiling. During our visit we must have been so focused on the wines that we didn’t notice it was there. An awesome office for sure, filled not only with amazing wine, but also a great snack.
We exited the office, and began making our way toward the cellar. The first room we entered was filled with large cement tanks from 1965 painted a pastel turquoise color (the same color as the wax seal on Elio’s “Ciman” wine). We then made our way into the adjoining room which was filled with barrels of varying sizes, and bottles which were resting. Like many cellars, Elio’s is made of cement, and there are some arches which have been left exposed to the soil. Elio explained that the soil which is visible in these arches is limestone marl. He broke off some of the exposed soil to show us up close.The limestone has a bluish tint to it and over time, with exposure to air, Elio explained, turns gray.
It was time to taste. Elio climbed up a ladder and grabbed a sample of 2021 Langhe Nebbiolo from cask. It was tough for us to write notes on the wines while following Elio from barrel to barrel, and also holding our wine glasses. For this reason our tasting notes are somewhat incomplete, and therefore, we’ve decided not to publish them. With that said, we will say that we were extremely impressed with every single wine we tasted that afternoon; 2021 Langhe Nebbiolo from barrel, 2021 Barolo from barrel, 2020 Barolo from barrel, 2019 Barolo Disa (which will likely be labeled as “2019 Barolo Disa Cerretta”), 2019 Ciman from cement tank, 2017 Barolo Riserva from bottle, and 2012 Barolo Riserva from bottle.
After tasting several barrel samples, Elio had us taste roughly half a dozen bottles of his Barolo which were opened a very long time ago. This was a fascinating exercise to say the least. Many of these bottles had been open for 6 months or more, yet they were still very drinkable. They obviously had some heavily oxidized properties, but the wines themselves were still intact, and all things considered, they were drinking extremely well.
Our Impressions
Ciman is a fascinating, unique, and beautiful expression of Nebbiolo that we’re very much looking forward to tasting again once bottled.
For anyone who enjoys Barolo, and/or the wines of Langhe, Elio Sandri is a producer to seek out. These are wines of exceptional quality, that are well balanced, with fantastic aging potential. Out of all the Langhe wines we’ve tasted over the last few years, Elio's without a doubt rank among some of the best that we’ve had.
Thank You
Thank you Elio and Fabrizio for welcoming us to your estate, and sharing your incredible wines with us. We hope to see you again very soon. Grazie mille! A presto!
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