Schiavenza is located in Serralunga d'Alba in the heart of Piedmont's Langhe district, celebrated for its great Barolo vineyards. The estate was founded in 1956 by the brothers Vittorio and Ugo Alessandria; the estate and surrounding area were formerly part of the Opera Pia Barolo (a castle that is kind of like the Hospices du Beaune: part educational institution and part hospital) whose vineyards were traditionally worked by sharecroppers. The local dialect for sharecropping is schiavenza. Today, the estate is run by the second-generation Alessandria sisters, Enrica and Maura, and their husbands Luciano Pira and Walter Anselma. Their holdings include 8.95 hectares in Serralunga with a small 0.5ha plot in Monforte d’Alba, and include the heralded crus Prapò, Cerretta, and Broglio.   For the last 19 years, they have also run Trattoria Schiavenza, right in the middle of the village of Serralunga. It is perennially recognized in Slow Food's Osterie d'Italia guide for its excellent traditional fare, which draws in both local winemakers and tourists. 

In the vineyard, they do not use pesticides or herbicides. Cover crops such as clover and mustard greens are planted to achieve balance and limit yields naturally. Harvest is manual and is conducted according to the phases of the moon.  In the cellar, they use only naturally occurring yeasts, and ferment the wines in cement cisterns, with 20-25 days of maceration. In terms of aging,  the wines see extended time in the traditional large 3000-3600L Slavonian oak casks called botti.  Tasting the three crus side by side, one realizes what Schiavenza is all about.  All three crus are on the east side of the Serralunga ridge, so exposures are all same, to the southeast.  Yields are more or less the same.  Cellar treatment (fermentation, length of maceration, vessel, and length of aging) is all the same.  The differences one feels have only to do with the variations in cru and vintage.  

Over the last few vintages, Schiavenza has made some subtle but effective changes in the cellar.  There is a gentler approach to extraction and when the press wine is used, it comes from their new, delicate hydraulic vertical basket press.  The length of aging in botte for the Barolos has also been reduced, coming down to around 30 months wheareas it had previously been 36+ months.  Getting the wines into bottle earlier has helped preserve the fruit for the long haul. 

For more information, please consult this excellent blog post.