Franco Ivaldi comes from a family traditionally dedicated to viticulture. His past in the farmhouse and in the family vineyards push him and become passionate about the world of wine, first as a sommelier and taster, then approaching winemaking. In 1995 he decided to inaugurate a new cellar assisted by his wife Caterina and his son Giorgio, winemaker.
The more traditional Barbera, Dolcetto, Moscato and Cortese vines, widely spread throughout Monferrato, are flanked by Freisa, a historic grape variety that today has a marginal space between the autochthonous Piedmontese and the Albarossa: a newly introduced grape that derives from a an entirely Piedmontese cross, Nebbiolo di Dronero (Chatus) for Barbera, studied in 1938 by Professor G. Dalmasso and experimented in the early 2000s by Tenuta Cannona (Experimental Wine-growing Center of the Piedmont Region).
Philosophy
The philosophy of the winery is to produce wines that fully reflect the peculiar characteristics of the great Piedmontese vines, handed down and selected thanks to the region's ancient winemaking tradition.
Starting from careful viticulture and controlled yields suitable for the production of grapes that reach an excellent level of ripeness; the technological and winemaking choices of the company are based on rules as simple as they are important for the objective, such as the separate vinification of the different batches of grapes and the dosed use of wooden containers for the refinement of red wines. The constant care and meticulous process controls that follow the wine from the initial stages to bottling are fundamental, aimed at obtaining the same wines that we will be happy to consume.
To complete our production, a small percentage of the grapes is purchased from a few trusted collaborators, our 'neighbors', winemakers who are able to guarantee exemplary work in the vineyard and obtain a top quality raw material.
The energy requirement is satisfied almost totally by a photovoltaic system that the company is equipped with, therefore, with a very low environmental impact.
Territory
Franco Ivaldi winery is located in Caranzano di Cassine (AL), in the Alto Monferrato. It is the area south-east of the province of Alessandria. The area, which has always been suited to the cultivation of vines and home to important designations of origin, was recently proclaimed by UNESCO, together with Langhe and Roero, a World Heritage Site.
The hills are quite marked (that's why the name Alto) and the territory is dotted with small villages whose main center is the town of Acqui Terme, just ten minutes away from our company. The vineyard lands dominate the hilly landscape and are limestone in nature. Two main types are highlighted, which have always been distinct from the farmers due to the considerable differences. The white, limestone-marly soils and particularly rich in calcium carbonates. They are rather loose and not very deep soils, characterized by important quantities of sand and / or silt. The red, deep and rich lands, less alkaline than the previous ones and characterized by iron and magnesium oxides from which the characteristic color derives.