Wineries

Orsolani

In the area of ​​Piedmont known as Canavese, vine cultivation dates back to ancient times, certainly prior to the conquest of the territory by the Romans who, under the guidance of the consul Terenzio Varrone, defeated the indigenous population of the Salassians.

The Romans themselves imported in the area their rational method of cultivation which, except for some improvements, still remains the one

practiced in the area: branching at least one meter from the ground and development of branches on a supporting structure, called:

“Alteno Canavesano”.

To allow this zone to have such an ancient winemaking tradition, two very important factors affected: a hilly area, of glacial origin, composed of hills with gentle and elongated profiles (moraines), where the soil consists of calyey sand and pebbles, a particularly mild climate whose average annual temperature is just below 13C, but in August, very important month for grapes’ maturation, has peaks of 25C.

In the same month the rainfall is fairly scarce (around 70mm), favoring in this way the integrity of berries (essential for the production of Passito). The most widespread grape variety is Erbaluce, from which three wines are produced:

Erbaluce di Caluso DOC, Caluso Passito DOC, Erbaluce di Caluso Spumante DOC.

The story of Orsolani Wineries begins in the late nineteenth century, when the great–grandfather Giovanni, with his wife Domenica, return from America called by nostalgia of their land.

They open the “Locanda Aurora” inn. While the great–grandmother follows the work in the kitchen, Giovanni Orsolani works in the countryside and in the wine cellar to produce the needed wine. The success obtained makes the wine cellar to be enlarged and makes that the forthcoming generation devotes all its time in the latter activity.

The great commitment on the Erbaluce vine starts around 1967, after the recognition of the controlled designation of origin. The results of all this work based on the pursuit of quality, has brought Orsolani Wineries to a position of privilege in the last thirty years.

Starting from 1968, with the first production of sparkling wine from Erbaluce, that in those years is a great novelty, Orsolani Wineries receives the DOC certification on Sparkling Wine.

In 1985 “La Rustia” is created, which introduces the concept of harvest sorting and demonstrates first the potential of this variety

also in its expression of dry white wine.

In 1988, after several years of experimentation, Orsolani Wineries introduce the use of oak barrels in the fermentation of Passito, the historical product, more difficult to modernize, decreasing contexturally its oxidative aging, so that today it can be described as micro–oxidative.

The result is a sunny raisin wine that can be compared to the greatest Italian non–aromatic raisin wines.

In 1996, with the “Vignot”: “S. Antonio” and “S. Cristoforo”, Orsolani Wineries introduce the concept of “Cru”, which is not based
solely on the origin of the grapes from a single vineyard, but also on subsequent vinification and aging, studied

specifically for those particular grapes. Currently, Orsolani Wineries vinify exclusively Erbaluce obtained from about 15 hectares of vineyards and their production is of about 100,000 bottles including the various products.

Az. Agr. Vit. Orsolani Orsolani Sas

Azienda Agricola Caretto Domenico