V.igne di Franciacorta, olive groves on the shores of the lake, agroittica workshop, agriristoro, agritourism and above all a social inclusion project that offers rehabilitation and work opportunities to men and women with mental frailties. They are the ingredients of Cascina Clarabella, agricultural and social cooperative. Today the agricultural social cooperative produces organic Franciacorta wines, extra virgin olive oil and lake and river products with the work of 30 people, of which 15 with frailty.
The social project
Clarabelle is part of the Cascina Clarabella consortiuma union of social cooperatives with a thousand souls in which 380 people work, of which 130 with social integration.
The 15 people with fragility inserted in the Clarabella structure work in the vineyards but also in the oil mills, in the dining room and in the kitchen in the restaurant. The idea of Cascina Clarabella is inspired by law n.180 (Basaglia law), which reforms the psychiatric care system, requires the closure of asylums, regulates mandatory health treatments and establishes public mental health services. «Our model – he says Heikki Berlendis, Manager Centottanta of Cascina Clarabella – represents what Franco Basaglia’s theories meant when he imagined the closure of asylums and promoted a service more oriented to the territory and the social dimension of patients’ lives. The model of inclusion that we carry out develops precisely on the three axes of home, work and sociality ».
The farmhouse of Cascina Clarabella
In 2002 the Clarabella farmhouse was born in Corte Franca and in 2016 the agriristoro, Centottanta CantinaCucina in the Clarabella village. “The agriristoro has been reported in the guide Osterie d’Italia Slow Food 2021 and adopts all the slow principles: zero km, short supply chain, quality raw materials, local flavors and traditional recipes – says Berlendis. In the kitchen, products from the garden, the cellar, the oil mills and the agroittica are exalted. The wine list offers home Franciacortas and some selected local labels. The restaurant – like the flagship wine of the winery – takes its name from Law 180, the Basaglia Law, which sanctioned the closure of asylums and reformed the approach to mental health. In terms of cuisine, on the other hand, we make the most of our lake product “.
Cascina Clarabella: the production
Cascina Clarabella is in fact more than everything a productive reality. Manages the “Sapor d’olio” oil mill in Rodengo Saiano and “La masna” oil mill in Monte Isola, the island in the center of Lake Iseo. All processing – from pressing to bottling – takes place in the plants. The cold extraction grinder made with separate tanks allows high efficiency in the grinding phase, in the management of the temperature and in the control of functional parameters.
The mills are available to small local producers who can bring their own olives for milling and produce an oil of guaranteed origin. To date, the Frantoio di Rodengo Saiano alone collects about 750 olive growers from Lake Iseo, Lake Garda, Brescia, Bergamo and Lake Como. “A few years ago we have taken over the municipal oil mill of Monte Isola and we process all the olives of the island that give a very special oil”, says Berlendis.
The Franciacorta of Cascina Clarabella
The pride of Clarabella production are the wines. The vineyards extend for about 13 hectares between the municipalities of Franciacorta, at an altitude between 150 and 250 meters. Annual production is 70,000 bottles and includes a range of five labels Franciacorta Docg: Brut, Saten, Èssenza Dosaggio Zero and the vintage Rosé “Annalisa Faifer” and “180” Dosaggio Zero. Clarabella was one of the very first wineries in Franciacorta to be certified organic.
Lake fish
Finally, for some years now, Cascina Clarabella has also been working on lake fish. In Lodrino, in Val Trompia, thanks to the recovery of an old basin and an unused building, Clarabella has created an aquaculture center connected to the Agroittica laboratory. At the Agroittica Clarabella laboratory, lake and river fish are processed: whitefish and agon fish caught on the lakes of Iseo and Garda and trout, char and sturgeon from selected farms in marinated, smoked, dried products and in extra virgin olive oil: “It is the latest project created in Clarabella – says the manager of the agriristoro, who uses these products in the menus -. It was born from the desire to support local fishing and to give value to freshwater fish and gastronomy.
For its value Agroittica Clarabella was financed by the European Fund for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries “. Clarabella freshwater products are on sale online but also and above all in restaurants. Classic Trattoria & Cocktail in Milanfor example, he proposed a themed menu “Sweet waters of Lombardy: trout and char, whitefish and sardines from Lake Iseo” interpreting Clarabella products in a risotto with turnip tops, lake sardine and candied lemon and a fillet of cold smoked char with saffron sauce.
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