Cascina Val del Prete

North of Alba, across the Tanaro River from the storied hills of Barolo and Barbaresco, lies the quieter, sandier terrain of Roero — and at its heart, in the village of Priocca, a natural amphitheater of vines that visitors have marveled at for over a century. The Cascina Val del Prete estate takes its name from a moment of exile: around 1850, the Abbot Felice de Grèsy was forced to reside here, and the “Valley of the Priest” was born.

In 1977, after generations working the land as sharecroppers for the de Grèsy family, Bartolomeo and Carolina Roagna purchased the farm outright. They planted their first vines of Barbera and Nebbiolo in the sweeping natural amphitheater surrounding the farmhouse, expanding over the years to include Arneis — the native white grape then just returning to prominence in Roero. Since 1995, their son Mario has led the estate, joined more recently by his own son Giovanni, carrying the family’s commitment into a third generation.

Cascina Val del Prete’s philosophy has remained constant for nearly 50 years: farm only native Roero varieties — Arneis, Barbera, and Nebbiolo — and let the land speak through the wine. The estate practices non-interventionist, natural, biodynamic and certified organic farming across its 8 hectares, with fermentation carried out spontaneously using indigenous yeasts and macerations lasting 25 to 30 days to coax out full aromatic and color expression. Aging ranges from a few months in steel for early-drinking wines to as long as three years in wood for the estate’s Roero Riserva.

The result is wine of quiet distinction — sandy, clay-and-marl soils that lean the estate’s reds toward the structure of neighboring Barbaresco, while its Arneis captures the delicate, mineral freshness that put Roero back on the map. Recognized by the Roero Consortium as one of the appellation’s leading producers, Cascina Val del Prete remains a small, family-run testament to patient, honest winemaking in one of Piedmont’s most understated corners.