Making Wilden | Valfaccenda, a visionary label

Start again from simple things and revolutionize the way we live. Behind every small cultural act lies a passion. It is first and foremost respect for nature that moves projects and producers close to Wilden. herbals . The common thread that binds them is the desire to see the world with renewed eyes, and this is their story.

“Warehouse of ideas, project of life,” Valfaccenda was founded in 2010 in Roero. The founders, still students in their early twenties, told us, however, that they already had clear ideas and a defined vision of the future. Only one small piece was missing: to realize this imagined and desired future. Here is Carolina and Luca‘s story.

Carolina, Luca, and Valfaccenda: can you tell us your story as if you were a wine?

Luca is definitely an Arneis, which in Piedmontese means brat, but also tool. Arneis is as solid as a toy soldier, it has a nice character, but it does not show it to everyone, it is a grape variety that overcomes stereotypes with unexpected results. Carolina is a Nebbiolo born on the sands, it is jovial right away, but capable of great demonstrations of fidelity and reliability over the years. A light mouthfeel in tandem with an intense and vibrant nose.

What does hospitality mean to you? Is there an object/place that represents this word to you?

For us, hospitality means opening the doors of our dynamic microcosm. Guests of the Cascina should feel at home, they can do nothing, read a book in the company of a glass of our wines, take a walk in the vineyard or come with us to the winery.

Perhaps the place that best encapsulates these possibilities is the turret, the symbol of our house, built in 1928 and restored with hard work and sweat over the past 5 years. An open, yet enclosed space, open to 360° over our vineyards and the first hills of Roero, bordering the province of Asti. The last place in the house that sees the sun set and gives minutes of light, when the rest is already in shadow.

What does it mean to be a small wine artisan today?

From 2010 to today many things have changed, but basically the approach and philosophy are unchanged.
We have improved in vineyard management, we know our plots better, we apply a conservative approach in the winery. Around us, on the other hand, there is much more attention to the world of wine, including natural, and consumers, as well as operators, are prepared and open to tasting expressions that are outside the mainstream.

We are happy with this new awareness, but we remain very “Piedmontese,” we eschew fads and labels, we are always the same, and we do not accept that winemaking methods become more important than the taste of the wine itself.

How do you carry out the concept of sustainability in your reality?

We are acertified organic winery, both because of an ethic we embrace beyond work and to ensure a working environment-in our case, the vineyards-which is healthy and as uncontaminated as possible.
At the global level, we need to systematize with other realities in the area to ensure significant results. There is a need for the collaboration of other farmers, but also of local administrations and Protection Consortia.
Moreover, the concept of sustainability should not only be linked to the modus operandi, sustainability is choosing to make wine only with varieties from our territory, sustainability is being able to work only with one’s own team without resorting to external riders.

Valfaccenda and Wilden.herbals: commonalities and history of this collaboration.

This collaboration was born after a few glasses of wine at our tasting room table. The points of contact are the research andattention to an unconventional product, the care of the raw material and a graphic design that dresses the products: absolutely recognizable, cared for and beautiful!

What does it mean for you to be “Healthy and Wild”?

We started out as the young and new ones, today we have made ourselves interpreters of a landscape and a territory: our Roero.
Since then we have experienced the rebirth of this land, no longer overshadowed by its neighbors on the shore (Langhe cit.) but with a distinct identity. Roero is rock’n roll: multifaceted, strenuous, unconventional. In our wines we try to faithfully translate the vineyards we work, seeking the elegance of the sand and avoiding the superfluous…. This is the healthy, wild Roero that we like!

Photo© 2021 Valfaccenda
© 2021 Wilden.herbals – Contents are the property of Wilden.herbals S.r.l., reproduction is prohibited