Traditional methods of cultivation and vinification, along with highly professional expertise, are employed to obtain Podere Casale wines. A modern cellar overlooks the vineyards of the Estate and offers visitors an overwhelming view of the surrounding valley. Temperature controlled programming regulates the various stages of vinification.
Elegant and excellent wines result from aging in barriques and long periods of bottle refinement. The Guyot system of cultivation is employed: grapes are harvested by hand so that only the best are selected. All the vineyards of Podere Casale are D.O.C. and the resulting wines include the most typical varieties of the Colli Piacentini.
Dry Malvasia is obtained through strict observance of Marchesato Podere Casale method of vinification. Ortrugo in the dry, petillant and Brut version, is obtained from the homonymous autochthonous grape cultivated by the ancient Romans. Gutturnio is obtained from a blend of Barbera and Bonarda grapes cultivated in exceptional vineyard.
In addition to a petillant version, only in selected vintages, Gutturnio Castello is aged in small oak barriques. The range of Podere Casale wines enlivens tables and can accompany the widest selection of entrees.
Podere Casale is the ideal place to start a tour of the noteworthy sites of the Piacenza Province. The city of Piacenza is only a few minutes from the Estate and one can admire its architectural patrimony of churches and palaces. The tour can proceed to the ancient villages of Grazzano Visconti and Rivalta; the Botanical Gardens of Pietra Corvo through Val Tidone and Val Luretta with numerous and fascinating castles.
Podere Casale is a beautiful sight to visit. The Estate is situated in the center of Vicobarone, a small pleasant village of Val Tidone in the Province of Piacenza. The road climbs for few chilometers from the Padana plain and gently winds through the hills covered by vineyards.
In the IX Century, Vicobarone belonged to the Monestary of St Colombano in Bobbio. It is well known that the monks were valid farmers and Vicobarone was their chosen site for the cultivation of the first vineyards from which they produced wines for their trade.
At the beginning of the XVII Century, the Castle of Vicobarone was transformed by the owners - Marchesi Malvicini Fontana - in a noble palace with ample and well kept cellars.
The present owners of Podere Casale, where the palace is situated, have refurbished the fortress, which dates to the year 1000, and in which the remains of a medieval bladed pit can be seen.