Carlo Casetta and his wife Martina, both born in 1990, are the young, dynamic couple behind this small estate, located amidst the bucolic hills of Roero, just north of the city of Alba.
Carlo was born in a family of winemakers, therefore it was only natural that his studies would take him straight to the Oenological School of Alba. In 2011, after years spent on the book which eventually culminated with a Master's Degree in Viticultural and Oenological Sciences, Carlo took over the family estate, where his father and grandfather preceded him.
In 2018, Martina joined Carlo in the management of the winery and the duo embarked in the ambitious redesigning of the company and creating a new line of wines called RAIZ, produced with the best grapes of the estate, picked and vinified separately to obtain wines that fully represent the characteristics of their respective terroirs.
RAIZ is the phonetic transcription of the word “root” in Piedmontese dialect. The sound RAIZ in English also identifies the term “to rise”, indicating the process of growth, and the act of moving upwards and for Carlo and Martina it symbolizes the new trajectory taken by the Casetta winery.
The Carlo Casetta estate has approximately 5 hectares of vineyards in the hamlet of San Rocco, within the municipality of Montà, where the plants of Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Arneis dig their roots in the sandy, clayey soil. The vineyards are all located close to the cellar, reducing to the minimum the transportation time during harvest. The plants of Nebbiolo benefit from a southern exposure, while Barbera faces the South-West, on a more ventilated and drier portion of the hill. The cooler, East-facing areas, are reserved to Arneis.
Carlo works the vineyards with the utmost respect for nature and the consumer, reducing treatments to a minimum, fertilizing with manure, leaving the grass between the rows of vines, and then burying it in the soil come springtime. To preserve the integrity of the berries during transport, small plastic baskets are used during the manual harvest. The vinification process is guided by an almost maniacal strive for quality, and an uncompromising commitment to produce wines with a profound territorial identity.
