Daniele Ress is the technical director of Schenk Italian wineries. Working as a "flying winemaker" he has collaborated with the 150 growers that make up the Cantina Vallebelbo Sca agricultural cooperative to create the Casali del Barone range.

Together they have about 500 hectares of vineyards in the heart of the Langhe, on the hills around Santo Stefano Belbo.

Piedmont is affected by a tug-of-war between two weather systems: the ice cold Alps and the warm Mediterranean temperature. This variation makes the whole area fill up with morning fog that slowly burns off during the day. This means the land higher up on the hills gets more sun. More sun = happy grapes = good wine. It's why Piedmont (or Piemonte) is considered to be Italy's best wine growing region.

Often referred to as the queen of black grapes, Nebbiolo is the grape of legendary wines such as Barolo and Barberesco. The name derives from nebia which translates as "fog", due to the morning fog which hangs around the vineyards.

The wines are high in tannins, repaying the patient with their ageworthyness. With time they will often develop flavours of violets, herbs, dark fruit and truffles.