Why it matters
The producer
The Ascheri family has made wine in the Langhe since the early nineteenth century, but the address on the label reads Bra, a market town to the west that sits outside the Barolo zone entirely. That gap between the vineyards and the winery is not an anomaly; it is the estate's origin story compressed into a postcode.
Matteo Ascheri runs the estate today alongside his son Giuseppe, who is bringing the eighth generation into the work. The family employs its vineyard and cellar teams directly, without agency labour. Four vineyard holdings spread across La Morra, Serralunga d'Alba, Rivalta between La Morra and Verduno, and the Bra estate in Roero supply grapes for a range that runs from Barolo to Verduno Pelaverga to Gavi. The cellar approach is consistent across all of them: large casks, limited technology, few additives. The aim is to keep vineyard character in the bottle rather than correct or amplify it.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Bra sits at the western edge of the Langhe, on the right bank of the Tanaro river. It is not a wine village; it is a commercial town that in 1880 had something more useful to the Ascheri family than good soils: a freight railway connected to Turin and Genoa. The winery is there. The vineyards are not.
The Nebbiolo parcels in Serralunga d'Alba face south to southwest between 280 and 350 metres. Serralunga is the easternmost of the Barolo communes, with compact Tortonian limestone and clay that slows ripening and holds tannin longer than the softer calcareous marl of La Morra. Wines from Serralunga typically need more time and arrive with more grip. The original La Morra ground, where the family began, is on the opposite end of the Barolo spectrum: silty calcareous soils that produce Nebbiolo with softer tannins and more forward fruit.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The Serralunga Nebbiolo is grown on south-to-southwest-facing slopes between 280 and 350 metres, a combination of elevation and exposure that concentrates ripeness without losing acidity. Nebbiolo on Tortonian clay builds tannin naturally; the south-facing orientation ensures it reaches full phenolic maturity rather than stopping short. The grape arrives in the cellar with density and grip already established.
Across the holdings the cellar approach is the same: large casks rather than small barriques, minimal use of technology, and low levels of additives. Large casks allow slow, even oxygenation without imparting oak flavour directly into the wine. Nebbiolo in particular benefits from this: the variety's high tannin and acidity do not need the vanilla or toast character that small oak introduces, and the large-cask regime lets the grape's cherry, tar, and dried rose character develop without interference. The Gavi is handled differently: stainless steel only, fermented at 18°C for around fifteen days, preserving freshness and citrus character.
Wines to know
The range in view
The range is anchored in Nebbiolo but has four distinct geographic chapters. La Morra supplies grapes for the softer, more open-textured Barolo expressions and for Langhe Nebbiolo, the more approachable designation that drops the commune-level restrictions. Serralunga supplies Nebbiolo for the firmer, more tannic Barolo bottlings: expect denser mid-palate weight, firmer grip, and wines that reward cellaring over a decade or more. Barbera and Dolcetto from La Morra fill out the mid-range with earlier-drinking reds, Barbera with high natural acidity and dark plum fruit, Dolcetto with softer tannin and bitter almond on the finish.
From Rivalta comes the Verduno Pelaverga DOC, made from Pelaverga Piccolo, one of the rarest red grapes in Piemonte. The wine is pale ruby, light-bodied, with vivid acidity and a distinctive aromatic profile: white pepper, rose petal, and spice rather than the dark fruit expected from a red wine. It is made for early drinking and works well with food that would overwhelm most Nebbiolo.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
The Gavi del Comune di Gavi is the right first bottle. It is 100% Cortese, fermented in stainless steel at 18°C for around fifteen days, and bottled young. The nose is lemon zest, white peach, and a faint floral lift. The palate is dry and direct, with bright acidity carrying the wine through a clean mineral finish. There is no oak and no residual sweetness. It also comes from a completely different appellation, the Gavi DOCG near Alessandria, which makes it a genuinely separate chapter in the Ascheri range rather than a simpler version of the Barolo. Start here, then follow the family's Nebbiolo into La Morra or Serralunga when the appetite is there.