The cellar Ricossa Antica Casa is equipped with a charming aging cellar featuring oak barrels and barriques for the refinement of its classic Piedmont wines. A space where it is also possible to taste great wines and typical local products with a view of the vineyards.
120 hectares of vineyards in the most suitable areas of Langhe, Roero e Monferrato, with its heart located in Castel Boglione in the province of Asti in the upper Monferrato where the Ca’ dei Mandorli estatewith its 80 hectares, of which 74 are planted with vines, is located. A charming place where the vineyards are arranged like a natural amphitheater of rare beauty with views of the vineyards and the cellar. It is here that you find the Cantina Ricossa Antica Casa.
An expression of the microclimates, traditions, and culture of the territory, a Unesco heritage of Langhe Roero e Monferrato the wines of cantina Ricossa tell stories of classicism, style, and identity of the great Piedmontese wines.
The Ricossa Antica Casa cellar
The Ricossa Antica Casa cellar is part of the Mondodelvino Spa group. The origins of its name date back to the late 1800s and are linked to a small distillery founded by the Ricossa familyon the outskirts of Asti.
After more than a century of history, today the winery is known worldwide for the production of classic Piedmontese wines, an expression of its tterritory of origin and the different microclimates that have made Piedmont a unique land suited to the production of viticultural excellences that perfectly marry the great cultural and gastronomic tradition of the region.
The winery, built in 2004 in the heart of the Cà dei Mandorli, was designed and built to best fit into the landscape context and is equipped with the most modern production technologies, as well as a barrel cellar with oak casks and barriques used for the aging of the wines that represent the winery’s flagship products.
Every year Ricossa Antica Casa produces almost one million bottles for a turnover of 4.5 million euros (growing 15% from 2018 to 2019). The Ricossa wines are distributed in 45 countries worldwide with the primary importers being Scandinavia (32%) and Germany (15%), while Italy accounts for 10% of sales.
The wines of Cantina Ricossa Antica Casa
Great is the work of Ricossa in achieving excellence, which starts above all from the care of the vineyards managed in close collaboration with the winemakers and a team led by the enologist Stella Grasso. From this synergy come great wines like the Nizza DOCG “Cà dei Mandorli” (100% Barbera), a symbol product of the territory, cultivated in the “Noceto di sopra” vineyards in the top area for the production of this grape variety on hills located over 450 meters above sea level. In addition, the Acqui DOCG Rosè “Sei Anime” (100% Brachetto) produced in the Sessame area from which it takes its name; furthermore, the Barbera d’Asti DOCG Superiore, the Barolo DOCG Riserva, the Barbaresco DOCG Riserva, the Roero Arneis, the Albarossa and the Barbera Appassimento Piemonte DOC. The latter is obtained through the particular technique of drying the grape clusters which Ricossa was the first company in Piedmont to use in the vinification of Barbera.
Hospitality at Cantina Ricossa Antica Casa
And it is in the name of the culture of typical Piedmontese hospitality that, inside the estate Cà dei Mandorli, Ricossa dedicates its splendid terrace directly overlooking the vineyards of “Noceto di sopra” as a space for tourist hospitality. Here, facing a natural amphitheater created by the vineyards, it is possible to experience a unique tasting experience that fits well into the territory’s tourist and food and wine routes, perhaps riding a bicycle.
Barbera D’Asti Superiore DOCG
Spokesperson for the Ricossa Antica Casa winery, the Barbera D’Asti Superiore DOCG from the hills of Monferrato is an intense red wine made from the quintessential Piedmont grape, Barbera. Perfectly paired with the menu prepared by Elide Mollo, Chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Il Centro di Priocca who loves to enhance typical local cuisine with a touch of innovation.
Piedmont’s quintessential wine, the Barbera D’Asti Superiore DOCG produced by Ricossa Antica Casa preserves a historical culture that not only distinguishes the winery of the Asti family of the same name, but also the regional wine tradition. Produced from Barbera grapes grown on the hills of Monferrato between Alessandria and Asti, this wine is obtained through careful grape selection and one year of aging in barrique. Among the winery’s most prestigious productions, the Barbera D’Asti Superiore DOCG tells the story of the union between tradition and ingenuity that characterizes Ricossa’s evolution: from a small distillery founded in the 1800s on the outskirts of Asti, to an international company that has been working closely with local winegrowers, faithful to the territory and its traditions, for over twenty years.
With an intense red color and notes of violet and blueberry, it is ideal paired with typical specialties of Piedmontese cuisine, such as agnolotti, braised or boiled meats. Its rustic and full character finds a perfect harmony with three dishes prepared by Elide Mollo, chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant Il Centro di Priocca, expression of a cuisine that respects and enhances regional ingredients, with particular attention to their seasonality.
The pairing
A pairing that gives voice to the Piedmontese tradition and its undeniable food and wine culture, leading on a gourmet journey from the land to the table. From the vineyards of Monferrato, where with dedication the Ricossa winery produces Barbera d’Asti Superiore DOCG, to the specialties of the Il Centro di Priocca restaurant, where the passion for culinary art meets the meticulous search for concreteness, authenticity e quality, narrating the value of this land and its fruits, shared by the two realities.
Piedmontese food and wine knowledge is preserved in the simple gestures of tradition, in a rich basket of excellent raw materials and in a historic wine culture. Among the hills of Langhe Roero and Monferrato, an area designated in 2014 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this richness is honored by the pairing between the Barbera D’Asti Superiore DOCG from Ricossa Antica Casa, and the three-course menu prepared by Chef Elide Mollo of the starred restaurant Il Centro di Priocca, which enhances genuine Piedmontese cuisine with a touch of modernity.
The menu
An appetizer based on sweet and sour peppers, a first course of agnolotti del plin or tajarin with butter and sage, and finally, a second course of rabbit in white wine accompanied by peperonata. Bold flavors and simple raw ingredients, coming from the countryside, here enhanced through traditional recipes but reworked by the chef in a contemporary key without however being transformed.
Barbera D’Asti Superiore DOCG and a trio of dishes curated by Chef Elide Mollo: sweet and sour peppers, agnolotti del plin with butter and sage, rabbit in white wine with peperonata. The combination that tells the bold flavors of Piedmont in the name of tradition.
Trio of courses
chef Elide Mollo, Ristorante Il Centro di Priocca
Appetizer:
Sweet and sour peppers
Ingredients: Peppers, white wine, vinegar, sugar, oil, spices
Cut and clean the peppers, boil them for about 5 minutes.
Place them in glass jars and add syrup made of vinegar, white wine, sugar, oil, and spices to taste.
Syrup proportions: 25% sugar, 25% vinegar, 10% oil, 30% white wine, and spices until peppers are covered
Let rest for 3 months, turning the jars every week
First course:
Agnolotti del plin with butter and sage
Ingredients
for 6 people
Start with the preparation of the dough. Work the eggs with the flour, oil, and salt, until you get an elastic and smooth dough. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest in the fridge for at least half an hour.
Then dedicate yourself to the filling. In a pan, brown the meats in oil, season with salt and pepper, add garlic and rosemary and continue cooking for about ten minutes. Meanwhile, clean and roughly chop the vegetables, add them to the meats and sauté all together. Deglaze with white wine and let it evaporate.
Transfer the pan to the oven and continue cooking for 2 hours at 200 °C. Occasionally moisten with meat broth. Once cooked, let cool and pass everything through a meat grinder. Salt and pepper, mix eggs into the mixture and set aside.
Take back the dough, divide it into 4-5 pieces and from each, roll out a very thin sheet with a rolling pin or pasta machine to be able to fill it. Place small heaps of filling on the sheets. Fold the edge of the sheet and close by pinching the dough. Then separate the agnolotti one by one with a fluted pastry wheel and let them rest in a cool place for a couple of hours.
Boil the agnolotti in plenty of salted water for a few minutes, lift them out with a slotted spoon and finish cooking in a pan with the brown sauce.
for the dough:
500 gr 00 soft wheat flour
5 whole eggs of 60 g each
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon oil
1 pinch salt
for the filling:
1/4 rabbit
300 g pork loin
100 g sausage
300 g veal meat
2 white onions
1 celery stalk
2 carrots
5 garlic cloves
2 eggs
meat broth
1 glass Roero Arneis wine
3 tablespoons roast sauce
extra virgin olive oil
rosemary, sage, bay leaf
salt, pepper
also:
brown sauce to finish cooking in the pan
Main course:
Rabbit with white wine and pepper stew
White wine
Salt, pepper, broth
Cut the rabbit into pieces, salt it, pepper it and brown it until it has a hazelnut color.
Then add garlic, rosemary and white wine. Let the wine evaporate.
Add broth and cook for about 1 hour in the oven at 200° C
For the pepper stew:
2 onions
5 tomatoes
3 desalinated anchovies
3 peppers
Preparation
Sauté the onion, add garlic and anchovies and sauté for about 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes and peppers and cook for about 10 minutes
