The Azienda Agricola Cascina degli Ulivi by Stefano Bellotti, in Novi Ligure, (Piedmont), is a magical place, immersed in one of the most important wine regions of Italy and, of course, of the world. There he makes natural wines (without any additives) since 1977 and implements the biodynamic method since 1984.
At the foot of the Alps, Piedmont is located in northwestern Italy and hence comes its name, “Foot of mountains”. Stefano Bellotti, grows vines and produces here his natural wines: deep, with personality and authenticity (without any additives) since 1977. Wines that come from the intelligence and experience of a man who has dedicated his life to the evolution of bio / natural agriculture in his country.
Practitioners of the biodynamic method since 1984, Cascina degli Ulivi is perhaps the most coherent biodynamic farm I have known so far.
Bellotti has always been a “fighter” farmer: his way of practicing agriculture, -and the elaboration of wines-, following the cycles of nature led him to face the Italian authorities many times and, at the height of agriculture’s boom industrialized, was contrary to bureaucratic rules that said “protect the purity of wine”, but did nothing but beat the small producers, who decided not to use industrial methods and respect the biodiversity of their fields.
Due to a tireless struggle carried out by Stefano Bellotti and other pioneers in Italy, many aspects of this type of wine have been taken into consideration, thus giving visibility to the most genuine sector of the field.
Stefano has had to change the classification of most of its DOC or DOCG wines (equivalent to the Spanish DO), to “table wine/common wine” for not entering the parameters established by these denominations, even though it is a pioneer in natural vinification, with wines of very high quality, and the president of the association of biodynamic winegrowers Renaissance Italia.
Bellotti is a wise and peaceful man, close and humble; he prefers agriculture and winemaking to politics, but he is a revolutionary and was always very active in fighting for the rights of small producers. He also participated in “Natural Resistance” (2014) – the pioneering documentary on natural wine, awarded in several countries, by filmmaker Jonathan Nossiter-, to vindicate his way of making wine and the difficulties and contradictions found by winemakers in the Italian agriculture.
A journey of meetingss and naturalness.
Close to Vella Terra since our first edition, he has become a friend for the family and, every time we pass through Piedmont, we give ourselves the pleasure of visiting him. As I write this, I find it strange that so much time has passed without dedicating an article to this dear farmer friend.
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This recent trip to Cascina degli Ulivi was particularly beautiful. In the last but intense cold winter days we stayed in the farmhouse where Stefano lives in the company of his family, a house full of memories. We were also able to enjoy pleasant moments with Ilaria Bellotti, her only daughter, who takes care of many things in Cascina degli Ulivi and takes the sustainable tourism with love and dedication and which we see assiduously in the fairs representing the Azienda and explaining its wines.
While we shared long walks, Stefano told us stories of his childhood on the farm, his father was a doctor and his mother, who immortalized the nature of the landscapes of his land in beautiful oil paintings that today decorate several of the labels of their wines. He confessed to us that, from an early age, he would take charge of the family farm. So, after finishing high school, Stefano decided to stay in his parents’ land to harvest the grapes and everything his land could give him.
While we shared long walks, Stefano told us stories of his childhood on the farm, his father was a doctor and his mother, who immortalized the nature of the landscapes of his land in beautiful oil paintings that today decorate several of the labels of their wines. He confessed to us that, from an early age, he would take charge of the family farm. So, after finishing high school, Stefano decided to stay in his parents’ land to harvest the grapes and everything his land could give him.
He always worked the vineyards with biological methods (at that time they were quite small, barely occupied one hectare). Stefano says that intensive and industrial agriculture has “brainwashed thousands of farmers and has endeavored to annihilate the ecosystem in the name of consumption and progress” and maintains that this has only brought infertility to fields, diseases and plants dependent on poisons
Listening to him is palpable the love and respect he has for nature and also for the human race.
Cascina degli Ulivi today
Today, Cascina degli Ulivi works 22 hectares of vineyards, with native varieties such as Dolcetto, Cortese or Barbera, plus 10 hectares of other crops (potatoes, tomatoes, leeks and different vegetables).
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Illaria Bellotti is also responsible for the garden: with their fruits they provide the kitchen for the sustainable tourism. In Cascina degli Ulivi they also make cheeses (with the milk of the goats and cows of the farm) and in which you can eat home-made bread of sourdough with local grains. In Cascina degli Ulivi everything has a great coherence and thus the circle is closed.
Stefano cultivates the grape and practices enology listening to their plants and giving them what they ask for. For Bellotti, following a set of pre-established rules does not work in a living system, and how right he is! He tells us that just as human beings do, that we communicate what we need through speech, plants do it with their own language and it is the farmer’s job to observe and listen not to damage them. When you listen, the plant feels attended and it is incredibly grateful.
Stefano uses methods of biodynamic agriculture but also practices permaculture. Thus it obtains uncompacted, crumbly and replete soils of microorganisms. In all its rows it includes a vegetal cover in which legumes, nettles, other grasses and vegetables grow between the vines, before being cut to use them like fertilizer.
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It also integrates cherry, peach and other fruits into the vineyard to help create more biodiversity. It does not prune the upper part of its vines, thus allowing the strain to find its equilibrium state.
In Cascina degli Ulivi there are geese, chickens, goats, cows, a bull, horses and donkeys: they all have their role. With what the farm gives, biodynamic compounds are prepared to vitalize the crops, giving true meaning to this philosophy and completing the cycle of the “organism-farm”. Your land is alive and fertile and you can feel it just by touching it. Chives, wild asparagus and other species grow spontaneously among the vineyards.
Stefano Bellotti in cellar: where magic is created.
In the winery, the grapes simply ferment with native yeasts: most of the red varieties in huge barrels, called “botti”, of 2,500 and 5,000 liters of oak, old and used, (so that they do not interfere with the taste of wines). Stefano tells us that he bought them from Emidio Pepe himself, since he ruled out using them outright when his daughter Stefania bought them in the 80s.
Stefano guided us through a tasting of most of his wines in his own cellar. He confesses that each one has a special character and contains a story. Walking among the barrels he says: “I have many years and many wines too but, if it were possible, I would be forever making wines and making a different wine from each row of vineyards, because each one has its personality and its stories to tell and what makes me happiest is to be able to transmit them”. The diversity is what characterizes Stefano Bellotti, and that’s the way it is, because all his wines ferment with native yeasts, do not contain added sulfites, nor are they filtered, nor do they have any type of additive or manipulation.
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At night, in the course of a magnificent dinner between friends and family, we continue tasting almost all its production. Among all, we highlight the following wines:
Nibiô 2008
With this wine it is demonstrated that the Dolcetto grape can have great personality and persistence. A jungle nose, with mature notes, makes us fantasize about the greatness of the wine before us. On the palate, it is smooth and extremely elegant, a balance that, together with its polite acidity, confirms that we can taste this wine again in a decade without being afraid of not finding life and spontaneity in it yet.
A Demûa 2008
Master of the Cortese grape, with his Filagnotti and his Montemarino known all over the world, we find it particularly interesting to taste this wine composed of 5 centuries-old Piedmontese varieties, vinified with the submerged hat method and with a rest in casks and in contact with the skins for a year. This wine gives us fresh aromas of vegetables and flowers, light but persistent, it is a harmonious concert of spicy and ripe notes that confirm that Stefano probably makes one of the best whites in Italy.
C’ era una volta il passato 2008
The Moscato, which can be vinified with very few vintages, seeks the perfect maturation in its vineyard before losing almost half of its weight in small wooden boxes. After a 7-day maceration, it rests in old wood for 8 months before another 7 months in contact only with fine lees, ending its long journey in the bottle after 24 months. An authentic work of art in which are mixed in a perfect balance notes of dried figs, raisins, honey and the freshness of the flowers of the field.
Natural wine as a form of communication: the value of history
After tasting the wines, we were talking about the peasants’ knowledge of their land, which, for Stefano Bellotti, must be “instinctive and based on observation”. This should be passed on from generation to generation, but more training centers are also needed to train young people who decide to work the field with truly sustainable farming techniques.
Stefano does not stay at home, he travels constantly around the world invited to conferences and international fairs of natural wine like ours. About that, I asked him a couple of questions:
What do you feel today with all the rise of this movement that pioneers like you began to claim?
I am proud and I am happy to see that those who join this movement are curious people, who drink, communicate and have a critical sense and a high awareness of the product they consume. It was a slow and long way for us to begin to be recognized. In many places they talk about “fashion”, however they had to spend many years of work to be where we are and, in a way, I still feel that we are beginning.
What would you like to express to those who drink your wines?
I want my wine tells its story: to excite, to describe landscapes, places, times and to transmit the vital energy of my land. It should make you feel good in company and provide well-being to the body. Wine is a fundamental, historical communicator. A good wine should tell its story and let those who drink it count theirs. Good wine moves us, makes us happy and unites us.
As always, I would have liked to stay more with Stefano, the hours go by fast, when the company and the moments are pleasant … but it was time to go back to Barcelona.
¡Ci vediamo presto caro Stefano!
See you soon, dear Stefano!
