A deep ruby colour that changes to garnet during maturation. Full, intense and very persistent bouquet. Litina's structure and generosity bring hints of vanilla and woodland fruits. Warm, full-bodied dry taste that enhances all the vinosity of the vineyard. Remarkable softness and balance with long, intense persistence.
My value is the value of a dowry. Litina is my name, in memory of an aunt who, when it came to striking her marriage pact, had a vineyard added to her bottom drawer. The land is worth something, it doesn’t lose value, it’s tangible.
Zia Litina knew nothing about stock market quotations, GDPs and spread. But she knew that those well-tended rows of vines would produce Barbera at every harvest. Now we know it too, and Litina has stayed with us and now represents the three-C logo: C for Cascina, or farmhouse, solid and robust, built on the road with the farmyard protected behind it because that was the custom here in Piedmont: C for Castlèt, the hamlet, the toponym, the name of the place of where we were born and have our roots; C for Costigliole d’Asti, our native village, a centre of life and of memory. One has to have a village, wrote the poet Cesare Pavese, a place one can always go back to. A safe haven, the place where one’s soul is. I travel round the world and I carry with me the logo of the three Cs that intertwine like a corkscrew. And I also take with me that delicate name, Litina, the name of a woman who knew how much well-kept land is worth, how it should be loved like a man, year by year, harvest by harvest.
Pairing Suggestions: With pasta first courses (tagliatelle, ravioli) seasoned with meat or game sauces, as well as with stewed and roast meat second courses. Excellent with medium-ripe cheeses, such as toma and pecorino.
Maturation: Maturation in medium-sized oak casks for about eight months is followed by the acquisition of finesse in bottle for more than one year. Litina is placed on the market in the second year after the harvest. When stored at a constant temperature of 15°C, it will continue to develop its elegance and balance for 4-5 years.
