Barolo, Ascheri and a model that does not seek growth at all costs

It is the only winery left in the municipality of Bra, in that area in the province of Cuneo, in the Langhe, dedicated to the production of Barolo, with 2,200 hectares under vine. And it is an 'irregular' enterprise. Or at least that is how he, the sixth generation of winegrowers since the end of the 19th century, defines it: a company that first of all does not want to increase the area under vine so as not to compromise the beauty of the land and to secure its future.
"Between wars, recessions, changing lifestyles or climate change, you cannot control all the variables at play globally," says Matteo Ascheri. The only thing you can control is the supply, not increasing production to keep at the high end of the market. I am convinced that only high quality wine will continue to hold'.

Ascheri is the owner, together with his mother and sister, of the eponymous Cantina Matteo Ascheri, with a turnover of 4.5 million euro and a total of 45 employees. One who does not want to expand - let alone relocate the company near his 40 hectares of vineyards, all managed directly - so as not to consume any more land and not to break the natural balance of the magnificent hilly landscape of the Langhe. Then it wants to produce only with its own land and only with its own employees, avoiding any kind of external contracting that could risk being infiltrated by 'caporalato', in an area where cooperatives represent 50% of the labour supply for the sector. Ethical choices. But not only.
"Planting more vineyards," he observes, "means first of all generating a very strong environmental impact on nature and biodiversity and also facing greater problems in finding personnel. Then there is the purely economic aspect: the more wine you produce, the greater the risk of having to sell it at a lower price'.

For six years, Ascheri was president of the Consorzio del Barolo, which associates 570 wineries and winegrowers. A position through which he fought many battles. Battles that he carries on today with his company. Not to impact on the environment, for sustainable production. Even openly denouncing the speculative aims of investment funds, which have also driven the sharp rise in the value of land - today in the Langhe it has come to the point of quoting two million euro a single hectare - especially from 2016 onwards. Since, that is, when the European Union authorised an annual increase of 1% in the area under vines out of the total number of national vineyards.
"Our companies," explains Ascheri, "are purely family-run and are very tied to the territory. If an investment fund takes over, everything that revolves around the centrality of people, who are integral to the success of our wines, is supplanted by capital. One of the effects is that land values skyrocket.

Taking over the running of the winery in 2000, Ascheri first of all restructured the vineyards, in order to obtain high quality agricultural production. Then he focused on diversification, also opening an accommodation facility and an osteria, which changed the physiognomy of the company. Today it produces 240 thousand bottles a year, 90% of which are destined for foreign countries - including Barolo, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Dolcetto -, in particular the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada.