Azienda Agricola Carussin

Ten donkeys graze the slope below the cellar, and the family's most-poured Barbera — Asinoi, "the little donkeys" — takes its name from them. Carussin is the Ferro family: Luigi and Bruna in the vines and the cantina, farming organically and by the biodynamic calendar, with sons Luca and Matteo now in the mix (Luca even brews beer under the Clan!Destino label). The wines are Barbera to the core — Asinoi, La Tranquilla, the single-vineyard Ferro Carlo that reaches up into Nizza DOCG — alongside a Moscato d'Asti and odds like Grignolino, Dolcetto and the near-forgotten Carica l'Asino.

Come up the hill and you're met like family. The tastings are unhurried and often led by Luca or Matteo, in English as easily as Italian, out among the animals as much as down in the cellar. It's a working farm, not a showroom — book ahead, and don't be surprised if a donkey supervises. They're closed Sundays.