I was recently invited to a Studio Cru podcast with Alessandro Varagnolo to taste six Cadgal wines from Piedmont. Three international grapes tasting their first vintage and defining the three different character Moscato d’Asti. This fascinating wine journey.
Alesandro didn’t have a traditional wine background. He was born in Turin, worked in Milan, studied at the American School in Dubai then to Boston, focusing on economics international business and consulting. But it was the call of the rooster, the symbol of Cadgal that brought him home to Italy with fresh ideas to start a new career chapter to realise his dream of planting his own roots in redefining Moscato d’Asti.
Cadgal was founded in 1989 by Alessandro Boido, to redefine the boundaries of Moscato d’Asti focusing on the vines to enhance its personality linked to the terroir. Having no family to inherit he decided to sell his business to Alessandro Varagnolo. Through 2022, his year of transition, worked alongside Boido to gain extensive knowledge of the region and the estates. Then aged 28 In 2023 aged 28, he completed the sales transaction. He combined tradition combined by his avant-garde aim to create a prestigious wine tourism destination with his new boost of energy.
His fresh approach was set up a network with local restaurants and producers, engaging his family and working with two consultants Luca Caramellino and Maresa Novara. Apostrophes were removed in the respelling of the brand name making it easier to spell, pronounce and search online. Their long term goal is to be organic, for now they are SQNPI certified.
The Cadgal portfolio has two beautiful Piedmont properties. Tenuta La Cove in Calamandrana, at the heart of the Monferrato Asti area has 25 hectares: 9 cultivated with vineyards. This is where they are growing their international grape wines, source of the first three wines we tasted. The second Tenuta Valdivilla with 6 hectares of vines, rooted in a soil of mixed and friable composition, typical of this Langhe area, home of their classic Moscato d’Asti. The second three wines we taste came from this property giving three fascinating expressions of Moscato d’Asti.
Piemonte DOC Sauvignon 2023
The first wine we tasted was the Sauvignon Blanc made from fruit from 15 Years old vines from Calamandrana vineyard. In the glass it has a straw yellow colour with green reflections. There are hints of white fruit on nose, it’s fresh and vertical in the mouth. “We use very traditional vinification making the wine in stainless steel,” says Alessandro. “There are very Piedmonte flavours, more fruit with aromatic flavours and is open to more variety of fruit flavours. The label was made by a local illustrator, a vision of modern Venice. The signature rooster is on every label.”
Piemonte DOC Chardonnay 2023
“The Chardonnay is made with similar aged fruit from the same vineyard, again made in stainless steel,” he continues. “What I found interesting when tasting the wines, one day the taste of passion fruit was more noticeable, the next day it could be more banana. It has a very clean taste with a lime cream colour in the glass. We are passionate the manage the wines’ integrity.
The sauvignon captivates with delicate notes of white fruit and verdant nuances. While the chardonnay reveals maturity with hints of passion fruit and banana. Both are an ode to summertime indulgence.
Barbera d’Asti DOCG Mavi 2023
“Mavi is an abbreviation of my daughter’s name Maria Alessandro who was born in October 2024,” he says, “the newest female in the family. The fruit comes from 25 to 35 years old vines, again from Calamandrana vineyards. It’s a ruby red colour in the glass, on the nose aromas of wild strawberries, ripe cherries interwoven with the sensation of white Lilies. We came back to the natural expression with this wine using stainless steel,” he says. “Aged for some months in the bottle, it’s a green but Vertical wine with good acidity and minerality. The label Matiolia painting with the rustical atmosphere 3 women. Love slightly rustic berry fruit, hedgerow. Winery or place of origin.”
We then went onto taste three expressions of Moscato d’Asti, the residual sugar grows as we progress through the wine.
Moscato d’Asti DOCG Lumine 2024
The classic Moscato D’Asti in the range, The vineyards in the hills just outside the sleepy town of Neive, home to Sandro Boido’s 6.5ha winery and some of the region’s most sublime Moscato d’Asti. The vines are located on steep slopes and on variable soils of limestone-clay and sand and
The classic Moscato D’Asti in the range, The vineyards in the hills just outside the sleepy town of Neive, home to Sandro Boido’s 6.5ha winery and some of the region’s most sublime Moscato d’Asti. The 30-35 years old vines are lovated om steep slopesand are on variable soils of limesrone-clay and sand, working with an organic approach in mind.
In contrast to so many other mass-produced Moscato wines, these are truly artisanal harvested by hand and naturally vinified with extended less contact. To be drunk as an aperitif, enjoyed as a sorbet-like palate-cleanser.
“It’s our biggest wine,” says Alesanador. “We produce 80k bottles a year of which 50k bottles are exported and is our only wine currently available in the UK. Available at Les Caves de PyreneIt has 120grams of residual sugar, has traditional freshness with a good balance of acidity. My grandparents had a tradition of coming back from working in their vineyards mid-morning and opening a bottle like this as an energy drink, it is a great breakfast wine.
Canelli Moscato DOCG Sant’Ilario 2024
The first of our two single vineyard wines made with Muscat Blanc a Petits Grains grapes from 70 years old vines. The nose builds in the glass over time, allowing you to enjoy each individual flavour as it comes. White pepper, sage, lemon verbena, orange blossom, jasmine, grape, and mineral salinity that lifts the 140g/l residual sugar to still give a fresh, light finish. This wine offers a complex palate with good acidity, a refined alternative to massed-produced Moscato d’Asti.
The first market for this wine is Taiwan. 7k bottles are bought by a leading American steak who serve it as a welcome drink.
Moscato d’Asti DOCG Vigna Vecchia 2019
Made with Moscato Bianco grapes from 70 Years old vines from the 1ha vineyard have steep sandy slopes with the best exposure at Valdivilla like an amphitheatre. Old wines 70 years old. replace with the same. Low yield only 40 hl per ha which equates to just 5k bottles. “This is a special cru for ageing, if they can’t get the balance right the vintage will be ignored. They use a unique maturation the bottles are laid down with a temporary capsule in wooden bottles of 288 bottles the cases are filled with belbo sand to minimise light vibration and temperature change for 5 years. “
Honey barley sugar taste. Long controlled cold temperature aging with 150gms residual sugar. The only way to understand this wine is to pour it into a glass and let the wine tell its own story. Allesandro was in Stockholm while presenting the podcast from a Michelin star restaurant where the chef had successfully paired this wine with deep tartar. “Can age 15 years or longer,”he concludes, “this is an Individual and exciting wine.”
We are the only Moscato vineyards to follow sand aging of premium wines,” says Allesandro, “it is the perfect environment for ageing this wine. As we move forward, I would like to see the same sand box ageing in our premium red wines.
His wife Roberta gave up her external retail managers job to become their hospitality manager. They offer comfortable sleeping accommodation, offering a local Piemonte breakfast, helping them to plan their day.
At Calamandrana the Wine Country House has three elegantly furnished rooms in the Manor Villa and an independent adjacent apartment. Guided tours and tastings with a view on Monferrato are available.
While at the Valdivilla Wine Country House has five comfortable rooms with typical and elegant Langhe furnishing style, including an independent adjacent apartment. They offer tasting itineraries include visits to vineyards for tourists who wish to immerse themselves in an unparalleled atmosphere where history, tradition and the beauty of the land come together in every sip.
Let’s raise a glass to the Cadgal innovation of Moscato d’Asti DOCG.
A discovery journey with Laurence Civil of his best tasting experiences 
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