CASCINE DRAGO - ALBA, San Rocco Seno d'Elvio

A total of 25 hectares, 12 of which under vine, on the hill named “Bricco del Drago” (Dragon’s Jug), 7 kilometres from Alba, in San Rocco Seno d’Elvio.

The vineyards here form a magnificent natural backdrop to the farmhouses, which house the Poderi Colla offices, the winemaking and ageing cellars and the Degiacomi Museum. Over the years, Dr Luciano Degiacomi, the estate’s previous owner, a meticulous, diligent preserver of our local history, traditions and customs, created nothing short of a “farming museum” displaying equipment that has long vanished from the scene, tools used in vineyard and cellar, and in day-to-day country life as well, from kitchen to byre. The collection, which bears his name, comprises rare and interesting pieces that bear witness to the arduous job performed by the farm workers on our local hills.

The Vineyards

The altitude ranges from 330 to 400 metres above sea level.
Exposures: as the vineyards cover the entire hill, the full range of exposures is represented, although west facing prevails.
The vines have an average age of 20 years, with rootstock planted as recently as 1999 and as far back as 1969.
The varieties grown are Nebbiolo, Dolcetto, Freisa, Pinot Nero, and Rhenish Riesling.
The rootstock is planted at a density of 3,500/5,000 per hectare.
The vines are upward-trained according to the traditional vertical trellis system and Guyot pruned.
Two of the estate’s longstanding vineyards yield cru wines by the same name. These are:

Bricco del Drago, which grows Dolcetto and Nebbiolo

Campo Romano, which grows Pinot Noir. The name derives from the remains of an ancient Roman settlement, found when the ground was broken to plant the vines and supporting the theory
that this very area was the birthplace of ancient Rome’s only Piedmontese-born Emperor, Publius Helvius Pertinax.

New Plantings

Part of Bricco was replanted in 1999: a single, well-exposed, 4-hectare plot was planted with Dolcetto (about 1 hectare) and Nebbiolo (about 3 hectares).
Most vine shoots were obtained by selecting material from the estate’s old vineyards and grafting it onto a rootstock (Rupestris du Lot) little-used nowadays as it is not very fast-growing or productive. Experimental Nebbiolo clones supplied by Turin University were used on the rest.
Vines per hectare: 5,000, which is the maximum that the steeply sloping terrain allows.

   Riesling : in 2009 part (0,5 Ha) of a vineyard planted with Freisa in 1977, has been grafted with the buds of the  

   historical vineyard of Riesling and it has started producing in 2011.