Why it matters
The producer
Enrico Piantato left his career as a lawyer in 2013 to work the family land at Casalotto di Mombarruzzo, a hamlet in the Monferrato hills southeast of Asti. The winery he founded there carries the name Laficaia, from the Italian for fig grove, because a fig tree on the inherited property became the estate's founding image. That choice says something about the register: a single tree, already on the land, becomes the symbol rather than a classification or a name from the wine press.
Laficaia's range is compact and direct. One still red made from Barbera under the Barbera d'Asti DOCG designation, and two sparkling wines built from Piedmontese grapes. No oak-aged prestige cuvée appears in the lineup. The winery is oriented toward early-drinking fruit and freshness rather than extended cellaring.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Casalotto di Mombarruzzo sits in the Monferrato, a rolling hill zone in southern Piedmont between Asti and Alessandria. The Monferrato is primarily still-wine country, with Barbera as its central grape. Laficaia's main wine carries the Barbera d'Asti DOCG classification, which covers Barbera grown across the provinces of Asti and Alessandria and sets higher minimum standards than the more basic Barbera del Monferrato designation. In practice that classification means the label commits to Barbera as the sole or primary grape and to the particular combination of ripe red fruit, natural high acidity, and mid-weight body that characterises the appellation at its most direct.
The sparkling wines place Laficaia in a smaller corner of Piedmontese production. Monferrato does not have a sparkling wine tradition comparable to Franciacorta or Trento, and estates working indigenous grapes into a Brut format are relatively few.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
Laficaia grows Barbera, Chardonnay, Cortese, and Moscato Bianco on the family property at Casalotto di Mombarruzzo. Barbera provides the backbone of the still red and contributes colour and acidity to both sparkling wines. Chardonnay and Cortese add the lighter floral and structural register to the white sparkling blend. Moscato Bianco brings aromatic lift and softness to the rosé sparkling.
No barrel ageing or malolactic fermentation practice is confirmed. The style across all three wines, fruit-forward and built for freshness rather than development, suggests a cellar approach oriented toward preserving primary character.
Wines to know
The range in view
The Barbera d'Asti DOCG is the estate's still red. The 2022 vintage is deep ruby, with ripe red fruit, berries, and a distinct anise note on the nose. The palate is full-bodied and fruity, with the natural high acidity that Barbera carries from the Monferrato hills, and a persistent finish. ABV sits at 13.5%. This is Barbera at a classical Asti weight: not light, not austere, and not built for long ageing, but long enough on the finish to take food seriously.
The Sbarbato Spumante Brut is a white sparkling wine blended from Barbera, Chardonnay, and Cortese. The colour is a brilliant straw-yellow. The nose opens fresh and floral, with the Cortese contributing a lighter register alongside delicate red berry notes from the Barbera component. On the palate the wine is lively and juicy, with a fruity crispness that recalls almonds and a lightness that the Barbera percentage does not typically suggest in still form.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Barbera d'Asti DOCG. It is the wine that carries both the place and the producer's choice most clearly: Barbera grown on Monferrato hills, under a classification that commits to the grape's natural acidity and body, without barrel ageing or prestige weighting. The 2022 shows ripe red fruit and anise on the nose, a full, fruity palate, and a persistent finish. Pour it with grilled meat or aged Piedmontese cheese and it answers the question of what Barbera does when it is handled simply and grown on good calcareous clay.