The likely first quotation of Cardìn in historical documents is the sentence "Cardino dà buon vino." (“Cardino gives good wine.") by Count Nuvolone in 1787 (reference: Almanacco Agronomico). The same author indicated in 1798 a synonym of Cardìn (precisely the 'Montanera' from the area of Saluzzo) in a list of second-quality grapes from Piedmont. Some more information about this variety are reported in the eleventh issue of the Bulletino ampelografico (Di Rovasenda, 1879) where it is argued that "Montanera also serves as a table grape, mainly for its precocity; it also gives a colored and structured wine, but perhaps not so sturdy and long-living as the one made from Neiretta.".
A first reference description is published in the text "Vitigni del Piemonte" (Schneider et al., 2006).