Cascina Lieto is the small Piedmontese dream of Rie and Hiroto Sasaki, a Japanese couple who settled on the border of the Langhe and Asti to make wine entirely their own way.
Backstory
Hiroto Sasaki has lived in Italy since 1997, first in Rome and then, from 2016, in Piedmont, where he and Rie founded Cascina Lieto in 2018. Their inaugural vintage yielded just 600 bottles, and production remains tiny, around 4,000 bottles per vintage.
The Region
The estate sits in Castiglione Tinella, on the border between the Langhe and the Asti zone of Piedmont, classic Moscato country that also supports Barbera, Freisa, Cortese and Nebbiolo.
Vineyards & Farming
The couple farms about one hectare of owned vineyards plus rented plots in Madonna di Como, south of Castiglione Tinella, using organic and biodynamic methods. Traditional Piedmontese varieties dominate: Moscato, Cortese, Freisa and Barbera, with Nebbiolo added from 2020.
Winemaking
The approach is natural and minimal-intervention. A defining house rule is patience: every wine is aged a minimum of two years in bottle before release.
The Wines
The lineup includes the white Lieto and Sensazione, the red Litmo, and bottlings such as Biso, Croche, Cado and a Moscato. They are personal, small-batch wines that fuse Piedmontese tradition with the couple's own sensibility.
