Why it matters
The producer
Cascina La Barbatella farms five hectares on Strada Annunziata in Nizza Monferrato, a commune in the province of Asti where the Nizza DOCG carves out a distinct zone within broader Barbera d'Asti territory. The estate's Barbera parcel was planted in 1950: those vines produce the grapes for La Vigna dell'Angelo, the flagship Nizza DOCG wine aged a minimum of 18 months with at least six of those in wood.
Angelo Sonvico founded the estate in 1982 alongside enologist Giuliano Noè. The founding decision that defined the estate's character was also its most divisive: Sonvico and Noè planted Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, and other French varieties in a landscape that had no tradition for them. The local reaction was sharp. The wines that came from those plantings eventually proved their critics wrong, and the Barbera-Cabernet blend now carries Sonvico's name.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Nizza Monferrato sits in the southern part of the province of Asti, in the Monferrato hills of Piemonte. The Nizza DOCG is an appellation within that commune and its surrounding core zone, created to distinguish higher-quality, longer-aged Barbera grown in this specific territory from the broader Barbera d'Asti DOC that covers much of the surrounding region. Nizza DOCG requires 100% Barbera and imposes stricter aging minimums than the parent DOC. Vineyard-designated wines, like La Vigna dell'Angelo, must age at least 18 months, six of which in wood.
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In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The 1950 Barbera vines occupy the south-facing chalk-and-sand slope at 700 feet. For La Vigna dell'Angelo, the estate selects from the best rows of that parcel only, a decision that concentrates the work of the oldest, deepest-rooted vines into a single wine rather than averaging them across the whole harvest.
Skin maceration for La Vigna dell'Angelo runs 15 to 20 days in temperature-controlled steel tanks, with pumping over and punching down throughout. Extended skin contact at controlled temperatures extracts colour, tannin and aromatic compounds from the Barbera skins without cooking the fruit or driving off the freshness that Barbera's natural acidity provides. The wine then spends at least six months in wood as part of the Nizza DOCG minimum of 18 months total aging. Wood contact softens the Barbera's firm tannin without masking the variety's characteristic cherry and plum fruit.
Wines to know
The range in view
The Nizza DOCG wines sit at the centre of the range. La Vigna dell'Angelo is 100% Barbera from the 1950 parcel, with 15 to 20 days of skin maceration and a minimum of 18 months aging including six in wood. In the glass it runs dark and concentrated, with cherry and dried plum fruit, firm tannin from the extended maceration, and a long acid-edged finish that reflects both the grape and the chalk soil beneath. The La Vigna dell'Angelo Riserva draws from the same parcel and grape but carries additional aging, pushing the tannin further into integration and the fruit into a more dried, compressed register.
Sonvico, the Monferrato Rosso DOC, blends Barbera with Cabernet Sauvignon and ages in wood. The Cabernet adds body and dark fruit alongside the Barbera's native acidity, producing a wine with more structural grip than a straight Barbera and a different mid-palate weight. It is the estate's historical argument in bottle form.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with La Vigna dell'Angelo Nizza DOCG, the standard release rather than the Riserva. It is 100% Barbera from the 1950 parcel: 15 to 20 days of skin maceration in steel, then at least 18 months of aging with six in wood, then bottle. That sequence is visible in the glass. Dark cherry and plum on the nose, a concentrated mid-palate with firm but integrated tannin, a long dry finish with Barbera's characteristic acid line running clean through to the end. No sweetness, no heavy oak, no softening of the grape's natural character.