La Musa Cascina Val Liberata 2021

Cascina Val Liberata is an organic and biodynamic farm set up in 2014 by Deirdre O’Brien and Maurizio Caffer in Villamiroglio, a village in the hills of Monferrato in Piedmont. It is located in a biodiverse valley surrounded by forests and fields, without the presence of conventional agricultural practices. The farm is made up of 10 hectares, of which 3.5 hectares are composed of vineyards. The remaining is made up of forest and meadows aswell as walnut groves and some vegetable cultivation.

Three grape varieties are grown: Slarina (1.5 hectares), Nebbiolo (1.5 hectares) and Grignolino (0.5 hectares). The vineyards are planted following the aspect of the hills (giropoggio) and chestnut posts are used in order to minimise environmental impact such as soil erosion.

To improve soil vitality, the biodynamic calendar is followed and intervention is taken using biondynamic preparations. In autumn they plant a cover crop in alternate rows in order to create a green manure to improve the fertility of the ground. They also use herbal extracts to reduce the amount of copper used in the vineyard. Natural sulphur (not petroleum derived) with bentonite clay and calcified seaweed is used to protect the plants form the range of cryptogamic diseases.