Deltetto

Late 19th-century roots

The family’s winegrowing history began at the end of the 19th century. An ancestor of the present generation produced the first bottles of Nebbiolo and Barbera at the family farmhouse in the I Lioni hamlet, among the steep hills of Roero.

Carlo and Catterina establish the winery — 1953

In 1953 Carlo Deltetto, known as Carlin, and his wife Catterina founded the winery in Canale, in the heart of Roero. Carlo was a craftsman who recognised the potential of the local landscape and its produce. He established an approach centred on ethical, responsible agriculture, including the avoidance of chemicals in the fruit, vegetables and grapes grown for both the family and his restaurant customers.

Alongside the traditional red wines of Roero, Carlo looked across the Tanaro toward Barolo. In 1961 he made his first Barolo vintage in Canale. That decision ultimately secured Deltetto’s status as one of the few historic cellars authorised to vinify and produce Barolo DOCG outside the denomination’s production area, in its own Canale cellars.

Antonio’s succession and the first Arneis — 1977

In 1977 Antonio Deltetto, newly graduated from the Umberto I oenological school in Alba, assumed responsibility for the business. He changed both vineyard and cellar production, introducing new methods and more stringent quality criteria.

Inspired by his father Carlo, Antonio also made the family’s first 933 bottles of Arneis from the San Michele vineyard in 1977. His interest in white wine helped establish Roero Bianco as an important part of the estate’s production.

The first sparkling-wine project — 1980

Antonio’s personal interest in traditional-method sparkling wine led to Deltetto’s first Metodo Classico wines in 1980, initially based on Nebbiolo and Arneis. The first experimental production amounted to approximately 1,200 bottles, which Antonio shared with friends and customers. Their response encouraged him to continue, although the sparkling project was subsequently paused while he concentrated on indigenous varieties and the emerging Roero denomination.

Pinot Nero, Chardonnay and a renewed Metodo Classico programme — 1997–2000

Deltetto planted Pinot Nero and Chardonnay for the first time in 1997. In 2000 these international varieties yielded the estate’s first new-generation Metodo Classico sparkling wine. The family later transferred the centre of its Alta Langa sparkling-wine production to the high hills of Roddino. The complete process, from ageing on the lees to disgorgement, is undertaken in the family’s cellars under the supervision of enologists Antonio and Carlo Deltetto.

Organic certification and environmental commitments — 2017–2018

Production obtained organic certification in 2017, formalising practices rooted in Carlo’s concern for healthy produce and chemical-free farming. In 2018 the company received an award recognising its commitment to environmental protection.

The environmental programme encompasses vineyard cover crops, green manure, compost made with local manure and winery residues, copper-and-sulphur vine protection, hand harvesting, reduced sulphur dioxide, renewable electricity, recycled packaging, reuse of organic residues and autonomous wastewater treatment.

The present generation

Antonio—also called Tony—and Graziella now work alongside their children Carlo, Cristina and Claudia. Carlo shares oenological responsibility with Antonio, while Claudia created the estate’s limited-edition artist-label project. Across five editions, that project has paired wine, visual art and an annually changing social or environmental subject, with each edition supporting a charitable organisation.

Roero

Roero lies on the left bank of the Tanaro. It is a geologically young landscape of marine origin, once forming the seabed of the inland Po Gulf when the Adriatic extended across the present Po plain. Its name derives from the Counts of Roero, feudal lords of the area from the 13th century.

The Roero hills emerged approximately 2 million years ago. Langhe and Roero originally formed a single plateau, with the Tanaro flowing north. Roughly 250,000 years ago, erosion by a watercourse from another basin captured the Tanaro and redirected it along the present Alba–Asti axis, separating Roero from the Langhe.

The same erosion cut deeply into Roero’s friable ground and created the Rocche: sandstone canyons with gorges, spires and steep relief that mark the divide between the river’s old and new valleys. Fossils within their stratified geology preserve evidence of the area’s changing environmental and climatic conditions.

Roero’s Pliocene alluvial soils are characterised by sandstone composed of sand and limestone. These soft, mineral-rich formations differ from the older Miocene soils of the Langhe, which are more compact and contain clay and marl. Individual Deltetto sites reveal this local variation: San Michele combines sand and marl; Gorrini is rich in sand; and Roncaglia has a greater clay component.

Alta Langa

Alta Langa is a high plateau extending through the provinces of Cuneo, Asti and Alessandria, with elevations frequently exceeding 600 metres. Vineyards alternate with woods, hazelnut groves and pasture. Its defining conditions are elevation, marked day–night temperature changes, persistent winds and old, well-drained soils. Deltetto’s Alta Langa vineyards are associated with the high hills of Roddino; individual sparkling-wine names also identify sites or selections at 480 and 570 metres.

Deltetto’s production has been certified organic since 2017, and vineyard cultivation is exclusively organic. The approach developed from Carlo Deltetto Sr.’s insistence that grapes, fruit and vegetables intended for his family and restaurant customers should be wholesome and grown without chemicals.

Permanent or seasonal grassing includes mustard, barley and field beans. These plants improve soil structure and protect it from erosion. Green manure supplies organic matter and helps maintain the vineyard’s natural balance.

Compost combines manure from nearby farms with pomace and stalks left after pressing the estate’s grapes. Stalks and pomace are also returned directly to the vineyards as fertiliser, integrating winery residues into the nutrient cycle.

Vine protection relies only on copper and sulphur, and herbicides are not used. Harvesting is performed entirely by hand under the supervision of a Deltetto family member.

Site-specific crop management includes green harvesting at Rocca delle Marasche. Thinning during the growing season reduces the yield and allows the remaining Barbera to over-ripen on the vine. For Bric du Liun, low yields are combined with over-ripening, outdoor drying in small boxes and some noble rot.

Cellar approach

The cellar programme is directed toward finesse and authentic expression. Antonio and Carlo Deltetto supervise oenology. For the five Metodo Classico expressions, all stages from ageing on the lees through disgorgement take place in the family cellars under their supervision.

Fermentation protection and sulphur dioxide

Sulphur dioxide is reduced to approximately half the organic-production limit. Deltetto uses a pied de cuve and does not add sulphur dioxide at the beginning of fermentation. During transfers, the wine is protected with carbon dioxide naturally generated by yeast during fermentation. Tony Deltetto links the stability of the wines to the natural vinification process; for reds, cleanliness and protection are also associated with the micro-oxygenation provided by wooden maturation vessels.

Clarification and filtration

Clarification uses products of vegetable origin only. Red wines are bottled without filtration. White wines receive low-pressure filtration on a ceramic support without filtration aids. The white-wine filtration process produces no discarded filtration waste.

Cellar hygiene and water

Wooden vats and barrels are cleaned and sanitised solely with hot water and steam. Wastewater is treated in a self-contained purification plant.

Energy, packaging and circular use of residues

Electricity is generated by the estate’s photovoltaic system. Packaging uses FSC-certified recycled cardboard. Pomace and stalks are composted or returned to the vineyards as fertiliser.