Cascina degli Ulivi

Cascina degli Ulivi is a biodynamic hillside farm in Novi Ligure, at the heart of the Gavi DOCG in Piedmont, in the Bellotti family since the 1930s. Stefano Bellotti, who passed away in September 2018, was its soul and pioneer: arriving at the family estate in 1977 at eighteen years old, he began the conversion to organic farming that same year and to biodynamics in 1984, becoming one of the founding fathers of Italian natural wine. Today the farm is run by his daughter Ilaria and Filippo Mammone.

Production centres on Cortese for the Gavi — aged without sulphites in large oak barrels — but also includes Barbera and the extremely rare Nibiô, an ancient local Dolcetto variant recovered by Stefano. Vineyards, fields, woods, vegetable garden, orchard, and a herd of Cabannina cattle coexist in a self-sufficient ecosystem completed by an agriturismo. Spontaneous fermentations, no additional oenological techniques, no added sulphites: the estate bottles the land with restrained fidelity.