We’re turning our regular Friday tasting over to Franca Miretti and her Barbaresco estate, Cantina del Pino. These wines have been favorites here since we first tasted the work Franca’s husband, Renato Vaca. The Vaca has been growing wine in Barbaresco for centuries. Renato’s father helped create the famed Produttori del Barbaresco and his cousin, Aldo Vaca, runs that winery today.
Renato and Franca took their vines out of the co-op in 1997 and named the new estate Cantina del Pino for the three pine trees planted by Giuseppe Vacca in 1920 to mark the birth of his first son. Reflecting the sandy soils and cooler micro-climate of Ovello, Cantina del Pino’s wines have always been, “fragile and soulful, much like the man himself,” in Wine Advocate’s words.
Following Renato’s untimely death in 2020 at just 51 years-old, Franca has taken up the work of moving the estate forward with great success. Farming is essentially organic and winemaking low and slow, with the Barbarescos spending 24 months in barrel, longer than most wines of the region, and typically release a year later than their peers. The wines are very much worth the wait as you’ll see when you come, meet Franca, and taste:
Cantina del Pino Dolcetto d'Alba 2023
Cantina del Pino Barbera d'Asti 2021
Cantina del Pino Nebbiolo Langhe 2023
Cantina del Pino Barbaresco 2020
Cantina del Pino Barbaresco Gallina 2019
Beautiful wines from a beautiful property and with a beautiful story to boot. The tasting is free and there’s no need to RSVP. Please note that we will begin the tasting at 4pm, one hour later than normal. You can see all the wines below and enjoy the mix/match savings right now! | 
