Meet the Italian viticulturist who manages an English vineyard

“What really struck me when I arrived in the Chilterns was the profile of the soil. The variety of temperatures and top soils in the vineyard, even just 50 metres apart, was incredible," says Cassinelli. "It was a new terroir to explore."

Originally from the Pinot Noir heartland of Oltrepò Pavese in the west of Lombardy, Cassinelli's start in agriculture was more concerned with orchards than vineyards.

"My first job was on a big estate in 1986, they used to grow a mix of fruit. I liked it a lot as I had the opportunity to learn about different fruits and different ways to grow them, but also the similarities of what they have in common."

Getting into wine

However, it wasn't long before he turned his attention from apples to grapes, initially in his home region of Oltrepò Pavese before he then headed south.

"I gained some experience in Maremma, Tuscany at Tenuta Monteti," he shares. "More than experiencing other regions, I was always more focused on learning different systems of growing different grape varieties – in Italy, you don’t have to travel very far to see the differences in the vines."

These were formative years in his viticultural career, and Cassinelli cites the great influence the older generation has had on his approach to working.

Cassinelli at work.

"I had the opportunity to work with the previous generation of viticulturists and vineyard workers, the generation which came just after the Second World War. These people were super-focused on work ethic. I was 16, 17-years-old at the time and I would work and go to school. It was a tough generation, the focus was on doing the job well."

"Today we talk about precision viticulture and using technology in the vineyard," he explains, "but at that time, although they didn’t have the same tools, there was a precision in the culture of doing well in every part of the work. You had to do your best with every little task, even if it seemed quite simple or boring – in fact, trying to do these tasks best is what made them interesting."

Arriving in England

Cassinelli continued to gain experience and learn from vineyards across Italy over the next decades. And then, after just over three years working for a winery in Colli Piacentini, located in Emilia-Romagna, close to the border with his native Lombardy, he was keen for a new challenge.

"I thought it might become a bit repetitive year-after-year. It’s not like the UK – in Italy every wine region has its own history and the terroirs and grape varieties are already very well-known. The bulk of the knowledge was already there," he says.

“In spring 2014 I was thinking of getting some experience abroad. My first idea was to go to Champagne and to work with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, but online I read about Stephen and Fiona Duckett, who had just planted the Hundred Hills vineyard. I saw they were looking for someone to manage the vineyard. I confess, I was a bit sceptical, but I went to visit."

Hundred Hills' vineyards. Image credit: Adam Stone (@adamstone93).

Located roughly halfway between London and the famed university city of Oxford, Hundred Hills is one of the triumphs of the blossoming English sparkling wine sector, with its bottles now stocked in some of the best restaurants in the country, including Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Claridge's and Heston Blumenthal's The Fat Duck.

However, when Cassinelli joined more than 10 years ago, Hundred Hills was still in its infancy, but what was readily apparent was that the winery's owners had the right ideas.

“I had a good feeling with Fiona and Stephen. They were not willing to compromise on excellence. So, I was ready to pack my rucksack and go to England!”

Top soil as a top priority

While Cassinelli was sure that he could work with the Ducketts, he was not sure about how the terroir would affect the quality of the fruit.

“The big difference from Oltrepò Pavese, and from Italy in general, and Southern England is the fertility of the top soil. In a classic Italian vineyard, if you’re lucky and you have 2 or 2.5% organic matter in the soil, you’re starting from a good point already. But here, we can easily talk about 4, 5, 6% of organic matter in some areas. It’s a virgin terroir. I didn’t know how a Pinot Noir planted on it would behave, so it was an interesting challenge."

Beneath this very thin, but very fertile layer of top soil is a lot of chalk, a factor which is considered one of the key signatures of great English sparkling wine, but it's what lies above, not beneath, that is of particular interest to Cassinelli.

"You immediately realise that, from a management point of view, this top soil is very delicate. It’s a big challenge to manage and preserve."

Perceptions of English wine

Hundred Hills was not Cassinelli's first encounter with sparkling wine produced in the UK. He recalls an evening out with friends in Milan when one of his party brought out a bottle of non-vintage Chapel Down, which remains the biggest, and perhaps most famous, wine producer in England.

"Some of the guests were very sceptical about it, but after tasting it, everyone was surprised at the quality. It was very promising. At the time the perception of British wines in Italy was not very high at all. To see what the British wine industry has become now is incredible, no one could have imagined it."

Cassinelli has since done similar blind tastings of Hundred Hills' range alongside Champagne, Cava and Italian sparkling wines, and with similarly positive results among family and friends in the wine world.

Hundred Hills in Rome.

"No one guessed that the Hundred Hills was English and it was loved by everyone, which confirmed to me that I chose well when I decided to move here!"

Life in England

Although he does miss Italian food, Cassinelli is enjoying his time in England, and he finds his work suitably fulfilling.

"I don’t miss much from Italy, because I love to work with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir was my particular favourite," he says.

Asked how is coping with the famously inclement English weather, he says that it "depends on the season".

"2025, 2022 and 2020 were great – although I sometimes miss the Mediterranean weather, but the weather here is getting better," he notes. "Year after year, the wines are getting better. I’m excited to see how the 2025 vintage tastes after a good growing season and everything we did in the vineyard."