Originally from Piobesi d’Alba, il viticoltore Diego Rivetti’s family roots lie in the sedimentary marine sand of MGA Bricco di Piobesi, perched overlooking the village, from where he draws his Roero Arneis ‘Criculin’ (crichet/cocuzzolo), planted in 2010; plus in 2023 he planted a plot of Roero Nebbiolo, also on il Bricco. In vintage 2022 Diego started making an anfora-fermented Vino Bianco Arneis from his other Piobesi plot across the valley, MGA Montiglione, planted in 2012/2014 on darker, iron-rich, peachy soils underlain with chalk (there’s a quarry nearby).
More recently, he’s teamed up up with his old friend e compagna di scuola Elena Strada of Serralunga d’Alba – a Milanese surgeon – to produce two Nebbiolos from the village. Elena & sister Irene’s nonno, Guido Massa, worked with Serralunga’s Cappellano family before creating his own cantina – G.Massa – with his wife Elda Viberti on the corner of piazza Cappellano, which they subsequently sold to Palladino in the 1970s.
Fortunately, they kept three pieces of prime vineyard land in which to plant Nebbiolo: a 0.2ha plot of vertiginous East-facing Broglio below the cantina, a NW facing parcel of clay-cool 0.8ha Damiano (to make Langhe Nebbiolo ‘Elda’), & a 0.5ha South/SW-facing fazzoletto on the spur of Vignarionda that had been planted up until 1981, then left fallow until Diego & Elena replanted it in 2018.
Skip forward to vintage 2024, as Diego releases all 2k bts of the inaugural vintage 2020 Barolo del comune di Serralunga d’Alba (from the Vignarionda spur), along with 2021 Langhe Nebbiolo ‘Elda’ (from Damiano fruit), 2023 Roero Arneis ‘Criculin’, Piobesi d’Alba, & 2022 Vino Biano Arneis Anfora.
The wines are classically made, using selected yeast, using static, vertical fermenting tanks; after MLF in stainless-steel, in vintage 2020 the affinamento of the Barolo was in third passage tonneaux (400L) for 30 mths, moving to 15HL Garbellotto botte grande from 2021, before being bottled without clarifying & only a light filtration.
Originally from the Monforte d’Alba borgata of Sant’Anna, in 1968 the Seghesio family sold their cascina & moved to the centre of town, to where the cantina is now located, becoming commercianti wine makers. For many years, Renzo was also Sindaco di Monforte d’Alba, accompanied by his wife Maria Gabriella Contratto, whose family were partly from Narzole – her father Carluccio a famous ‘sarto’/tailor – while her mother was a Monfortina.
They have two sons: Federico (nato ’76) & Raffaele (’78), who now assist their parents as they complete a restructuring of the family cantina nel cuore del centro storico, to provide more space for ageing & bottle storage. Federico, an aerospatial engineer previously worked for Westland/Leonardo in China & the Middle East, while Raffaele is a surgeon at the new Verduno hospital.
From 1986, Renzo Seghesio started to buy the fruit from Cascina Pajana, on the eastern side of the Monforte d’Alba comune, eventually buying the 7ha plot in 1996; a plot that includes 1.3ha of steep South East-facing, 30yo vigna Pajana at 350m asl on white Formazione di Lequio limestone soils (similar to Serralunga d’Alba) & 1.8ha of 25yo West-facing Ginestra on more classic Langhe soils of Marne Sant’Agata fossili. From the broader Ginestra MGA they also produce a Barolo del comune di Monforte d’Alba.
Beyond Monforte d’Alba, yet still in the Langhe, the family also owns a 0.6ha plot of South facing, 6yo vigna Bricco Chiesa on warm sandy marne soils in the frazione of Santa Maria di La Morra (for Langhe Nebbiolo); plus since 2021 they have begun renting an older vine 1ha plot in Roggeri nearby, that provides fruit for their Barolo del comune di La Morra.
And in the Roero they own a single, 4ha anfiteatro plot of vigna Sanchè, that runs parallel to Valmaggiore in the comune of Vezza d’Alba, on predominantly Sabbia d’Asti over marne soils, for both Nebbiolo d’Alba & Roero Arneis.
In cantina, the fratelli are supported by a young local enologo, Andrea Taricco, while since 2020 they have been advised by Roberto Valletti, another young enologist from Dogliani. The wines are classically made, in static stainless-steel vats, using selected yeast, pumping over & on occasions, submerged cap. Vintage 2020 was also the year in which they invested in a new Pellenc destalker, plus two new 32HL Stockinger botti, alongside older Garbellotto 30HL barrels. They also use tonneaux for the Nebbiolo d’Alba & Barbera d’Alba; their Langhe Nebbiolo sees 18mths in botte grande. Carlo Arnulfo consults in the vyd.
They bottle at circa 80mg of total sulphur, using Lafitte & Amorim corks for their Barolo wines, & DIAM5/10 beeswax for Roero Arneis, Nebbiolo d’Alba & Langhe Nebbiolo.
Pierangelo & his wife Elisa, along with their children Gaia, Niccolò, & Mathilde, own 10 hectares of vineyard Boiolo right in the heart of the La Morra versante, in the borgata of Boiolo.
But the story began in 1898, sempre in Boiolo, with the birth of Pietro Bosco to Constanzo e Margherita. In 1948 the family replanted the vineyards, & in 1968 Pietro’s son Costanzo expanded the domaine to 3ha. And then it was Pierangelo’s turn (son of Costanzo!), who from 1994 enlarged their smallholding to 8ha, renovating the old cascina, & in 2004 beginning to bottle a small percentage of their fruit/c. 2,500 bts of Barolo Boiolo.
Skip forward to 2018 when Pierangelo & his wife Elisa were (officially) joined at the cascina by their eldest daughter Gaia, who attended Alba’s Umberto 1 Wine School from 2006-12, before gaining valuable experience working alongside other Barolo producers both in La Morra & Serralunga d’Alba.
Their approach is classical, both in the vineyards & cantina, which lies in the centre of their 10 hectare plot; a magnificent old gelso/mulberry tree stands guard in front of the house/cantina overlooking their vines. Gaia likes to ferment their Nebbiolo da Barolo in stainless-steel using wild yeasts, just pumping over for a month on the skins, no cappello sommerso/submerged cap, the age them in 25HL botti grande (Garbellotto & new Klaus Pauscha) for two years, bottling the wines without clarification & only a light, cautionary filtration. They make Barolo Boiolo from c. 20 year old vines, & in some years a Riserva Boiolo from a prized plot of up to 70 yo vines, that sees 60 days maceration.
They make a fine Nebbiolo d’Alba from vines in the Roero comune of Santa Vittoria, & in vintage 2021 Gaia made a pulsating 100% whole bunch Langhe Nebbiolo! And in 2022 she vinified a small quantity of dry Langhe Bianco from a tiny plot of Viognier high up in the Alta Langa comune of Albaretto della Torre.
The Boiolo MGA sits between Rocche dell’Annunziata & Brunate, & their vineyards lie at the heart of the MGA at between 350 & 400m asl on benchmark La Morra laminated calc clay soils rich in manganese over marne Sant’Agata fossili bedrock, facing ESE, giving full, structured, fleshy wines with good acidity. Their vines are perched above the borgata of Torriglione & run adjacent to the confini/border with Rocche dell’Annunziata.
Perched high above the Langhe in the village of Roddino, just across the border from Serralunga d’Alba, the Cassino family farm, Cascina Castella, owns 4.5ha of vineyards in the comune of Roddino & in Sinio. They grow Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo & Rossese Bianco. In the 1990s, papa Silvio Cassino started to commercialise their wines, but it wasn’t until his two daughters, Elena (nata ’91) & Monica (’94) graduated from Alba’s Liceo Linguistico ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ that things became more serious…
Upon graduation in 2014 Monica decided to expand her horizons & move to Germany, a step that led her to enrol at the prestigious Hochschule Geisenheim University in 2015 where she studied enologia & viticultura. Graduating in 2019 she returned to the family cantina & teamed up with her sister Elena. Vintage 2021 was their debutto year together, which coincidentally saw the release of their first Langhe Nebbiolo; in the same year they began work renovating the family’s splendid cascina.
The family has always prided itself in being guardians of the rare Rossese Bianco grape, a grape with Ligurian roots, that is found in the comunes of Sinio, Roddino, & Monforte d’Alba, of which they produce c.2k bts/anno. The Nebbiolo comes from a wonderful borgata in Sinio, called Bricco del Gallo, 500m asl high up & SW facing, on marne, limestone & arenarie soils, giving high toned wines not dissimilar to those of Serralunga d’Alba directly in front! And in the cuore of this borgata is found ‘La Castella’, a mini-hamlet of houses built & inhabited by Elena & Monica’s grandfather until he passed away in 2011. Plus they have some deliciously furry old vine Dolcetto!
Looking ahead, in 2023 they will be releasing their inaugural (2019) Barolo, a tiny quantity sourced from a supplier in the Monforte d’Alba MGA of Perno!
The Boffa family – Stefano, Marilena, Cristian & Miriam – is hidden away in the La Morra borgata of Alessandria, Santa Maria. They tend 5ha close to the cantina, notably the Nebbiolo da Barolo vigne of Bricco Chiesa, Santa Maria, Galina & Capalot, on clay-rich marne sant-agata fossili soils at between 250-300m asl, averaging 35 years old, & facing mainly East. They also own a small plot in Serralunga d’Alba’s cru Meriame, plus they’ve started renting vines in Monforte’s Bricco San Pietro.
Marilena Alessandria, Cristian’s mother, is from Santa Maria, & owns the vineyards of Santa Maria, Capalot, & Serralunga’s Meriame. Indeed her father Giacomo once owned a cantina in Santa Maria itself, called Az. Agr. Martinat.
The Boffas came from Mango. In the 1940s, Stefano’s nonno Filippo uprooted & brought all eight of his children to Santa Maria, to live & work as a mezzadro at Tenuta Para, for Il Colonnello Comin, a Venetian who’d married a wealthy local landlady, Signora Vergiati. In 1954 Stefano’s father Pietro married local girl, Giuseppina Borgogno, who along with her two sorelle owned vines in Santa Maria. Upon marriage, the Borgogno ladies sold the family house & Giuseppina (& Pietro Boffa) inherited the vineyards of Bricco Chiesa, Galina & Bettolotti.
Stefano Boffa worked forty years for ‘Monsù’ Luigi Oddero (always wearing a tie, even when pruning his peach trees or playing cards), as well as selling him his fruit & wine up until vintage 2012. His son Cristian (nato ’86) served his apprenticeship under Luigi Oddero at Tenuta Para, working at the cantina soon after the Oddero split in 2006/07. Cristian attended the Umberto 1 Enological School in Alba, while his sorella Miriam is a qualified cuoca, & helps the family in the vineyards too.
Vinification of the Barolos is traditional, fermented in stainless steel, followed by affinamento in slavonian oak botte grande (Garbellotto & Gamba 25, 30, & 38HL). The Barolo del comune di La Morra is a blend of fruit from all four of their Santa Maria vineyards. Their first labeled Barolo was made in 2014, all 500 bottles. They also make a Dolcetto, Barbera, & Langhe Nebbiolo.
The Barale family is rooted in Barolo, just as Conterno is in Monforte d’Alba, Burlotto in Verduno, & Cappellano in Serralunga d’Alba. And since 2012, Diego (nato ’80) e Damiano (’83) – fratelli e enologi – are the latest ramo/branch of this historic Barale family to be making Barolo wine.
The family dates back to the 17th century, & in 1870 Francesco Barale started making wine. The estate passed to Carlo Barale, who in turn founded the ‘Barale-Rinaldi’ cantina. In due course the families split, with Carlo’s sons Giovanni Battista & Giuseppe (father of Carlo & Sergio) establishing Barale Fratelli until the death of Giuseppe in 1984. Diego & Damiano’s father Carlo, himself an enologo, & their uncle Sergio took over Barale Fratelli until the tragic ‘scomparso‘ of Carlo in Sept. 1985; at this point the property passed to his brother Sergio.
In 2012, following the renovation of their fine & historic ‘Aie Sottane‘ property in the heart of the village, the giovani fratelli Diego & Damiano began their own estate with the release of 2010 Langhe Nebbiolo & with 2012 Barolo. Their distinctive ‘falce e coccinella‘ label does not shed light on their political sympathies, but reveals a mantra shared by the fratelli from the outset: ‘Lavoro e Natura, Audace e Fortuna’.
With land inherited from their father Carlo, the fratelli now have 8ha of vineyards in the communes of Barolo (vigne Monrobiolo di Bussia, Castellero, Cannubi) & Monforte d’Alba (vigna San Giovanni); 4ha of which are devoted to growing Nebbiolo da Barolo.
Both brothers tend to their vines, occasionally with the falce (!), following essentially biologico/organic principles but they do not agree with some of the more illogical practices that being ‘bio’ certified would entail; they don’t own a caterpillar tractor, but rely on a traditional tractor; they prefer to wrap over (arrotolare) the tops of the vines rather than to ‘top’ them. The vineyards are harvested & vinified separately. Vinification is classical, with fermentation in static stainless-steel tanks for up to 25/30 days (remontaggio), followed by ageing in 500L french tonneaux for approx. 24mths. For now they feel most comfortable, & in control with this smaller wood format…but that said, a 25HL botte is in the pipeline.
From vintage 2018, their classic Barolo becomes a blend of Monrobiolo di Bussia & San Giovanni, while their inaugural Barolo Cannubi will be released in magnum only. And from vintage 2021, they will assume ownership of their family’s vines in Castellero. They also make a fine old vine Dolcetto d’Alba & younger vine Barbera d’Alba from their San Giovanni vineyard.
Torinese by birth, Lara Rocchetti & Luisa Sala – Lalù! – met in 2010 while studying at Pollentia’s Gastronomic Science University, & ended up submitting a joint thesis on how to build a carbon-neutral cantina! On graduation, Lara headed to Argentina, while Luisa went to the Cape wine lands. Neither’s family had any prior viticultural experience, but Luisa & Lara found themselves drawn to both the vine & to making wine.
On their return from abroad, a chance encounter with Trediberri’s Nicola Oberto (at a gathering at Cà d’Carussin) led to a stint working at the cantina’s La Morra vineyards. Indeed it was Nicola’s father Federico who, with typical generosity, opened the door to their first vineyard purchase in 2015, that of a 0.5ha parcel in Roncaglie, La Morra! After Trediberri, the girls worked at both Reva & Conterno-Fantino; they credit Claudia Conterno for his advice on vineyard bio management.
In 2017 & 2018, they worked in Burgundy: first at Domaine Lafon in Meursault (vinifying the 2017 Montrachet!), before heading to Morey St.Denis to assist Cecile Tremblay.
In 2019 they took the plunge, creating their own domain Az. Agr. Lalù & renting a small cantina in Serralunga d’Alba in which to vinify the 3.5ha of vines from the communes of Monforte d’Alba & La Morra: including 0.3ha Monforte Le Coste, 0.5ha La Morra’s Roncaglie, & 1.5ha Monforte’s Bussia Brovi (opposite Bussia Corsini). They have invested in their future, equipping the cantina with cement tanks, a 25HL wooden tino, peristatic pumps, a new destemmer, balloon press & a 15HL botte grande. It is in this Serralunga cantina that they will be vinifying their first harvest of Barbera d’Alba from Monforte’s Bussia, Langhe Nebbiolo from La Morra’s Roncaglie vineyard, plus the cherry on the cake: Nebbiolo da Barolo from the Monforte vineyard of Le Coste! Total production will be tiny at 8k bottles/anno.
They are now on the lookout for another vineyard, so dite-crociate!
This important Langhe family dates back to 1880, their cantina is to be found in the town of Bra, but the family originates from the village of La Morra. Bra was very much a key hub in the movement of Barolo in the early years due to its train station built in 1874, linking Torino to Savona, via Bra & Cervere (before Alba built their’s). Indeed in those days there were c. ten Barolo producers/negociants in the town, of which only Cantine Ascheri Giacomo survives.
The cantina today is run by la Signora Cristina Ascheri, mother of Matteo who took over from his father Giacomo in 1988, & alongside is Giuliano Bedino the enologo since 1996 & Matteo’s son Giuseppe. They have 16ha of Nebbiolo da Barolo vineyards from across three communes/villages: La Morra, Verduno & Serralunga d’Alba. Incidentally, Matteo is currently the Presidente of the Consorzio of Barbaresco & Barolo growers.
Historically they have always made a traditional Barolo, blended from across the three villages of La Morra, Verduno & Serralunga d’Alba. From 1999 they started releasing the four single vineyard Baroli: Pisapola (Verduno), Sorano (Serralunga d’Alba), & ‘Coste e Bricco’ (Serralunga d’Alba) from 1999, with La Morra’s Ascheri – from where the family originally herald – from 2010. These single vineyard Barolos are only made in exceptional years – most recently in 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, & then forecast to be in 2019.
Vinification is classical, employing BR97 locally-selected yeast, pumping over or submerged cap for up to 20 days, before ageing the wines ageing for circa 18 mths in largely botti grandi of between 10-20HL, plus a small percentage of French 500litre tonneaux. Since vintage 2010, the Barolos are closed using DIAM30. Total sulphur tends to be c. 75mg/litro at bottling.
Descended from Verduno’s famous Il Commendatore G.B. Burlotto, who supplied the House of Savoia from his estate during the 1860s, it was Andrea Burlotto, his great grandson, who founded Cantina Massara in the early 1900s. Andrea fathered seven children (2 daughters Giuseppina & Luciana, & 5 sons Francesco, GianCarlo, Giacomino, Sergio & GianBattista) & started bottling the Barolo in the early 1970s, before passing away in 1995; leaving the 40ha mixed farm estate to his 7 offspring to manage.
This they did as a collective until 2013 when GianCarlo & his son Gianluca (left), a graduate of Alba’s Umberto 1 Wine School who had joined the family estate in 2002, decided to hive off 10ha of vines from the family estate, all in the comune of Verduno, & to focus their energies on producing wine. 2013 was also the vintage in which Giancarlo & Gianluca Burlotto first released a Barolo Massara, from the fine old 1969 planted parcel that lies high up below the village of Verduno itself (arriving from Roddi). In vintage 2015 they also produced their inaugural Barolo Monvigliero from a tiny parcel in affitto in the heart of the famous vineyard. The Burlotto family also own vines in the vineyards of Castagni, Neirane, Silio, & Campasso.
In the meantime: in 2000 the Burlottos bought a new destemmer; in 2007 they built a new cantina in the centre of the village, attached to the historic cellar, & also invested in several new 75 & 100HL Garbellotto botti, plus a new pneumatic press into the bargain! Gianluca has a sister Claudia, who now helps in the cantina. Gianluca is married to Carla of Gallo & they have two small children Federico & Anna.
Vinification is traditional. Nebbiolo da Barolo: co-fermented fruit (for the Barolo classico), stainless-steel open-vat temperature controllato (c. 28 degrees), selected yeast, followed by circa 15 – 20 days pumping over/remontaggio, no submerged cap, maceration or punching down (i.e. very gentle), followed malolactic in stainless steel, & by 36 months in botti grandi of 16HL, 50HL, 75HL & 100HL with minimal racking; the most recent botti bought in 2008. DIAM10 corks are used.
Tucked away in the frazione/hamlet of Santa Maria di La Morra is (eventually!) found the family cantina of Crissante Alessandria. Both family names, Crissante & Alessandria, originate from Santa Maria, & their 6 hectares of vines (+ 5ha of hazelnuts), of which 5 are planted to Nebbiolo, lie an ox-drive’s distance from the cantina, surrounding the frazione; notably the vineyards of Roggeri, San Biagio, Bertolotti, Capalot, & Galina.
The cantina’s story began in 1958, with the first commercial bottles produced in the 1970s when the estate was a tiny 2-3 hectares. Skip forward to 2005 when 8th generation Alberto Alessandria (nato 1985), owner & winemaker, graduated from Alba’s Enological School Umberto 1. He then joined his family in 2007, triggering a series of investments in the cantina – notably the introduction of new Garbellotto botti grandi. In 2008 his ‘nonno’ Crissante passed away, & in doing so passed the baton to Alberto.
Their 3ha vineyard of Roggeri surrounds the cantina, is comprised of Lampia vines planted between 1957 & 2012, is situated at 210m asl, facing SE, & the soil is composed of a heavy grey & brown calcareous clay, cool & humid. Their prime plot of 0.4ha Capalot is situated further up the hill, faces S, just above the Santa Maria to La Morra road, in a natural amphiteatro, at 320m asl on sand & clay; the vines date from the 1970s & more recently from 2003; ‘La Punta’ dei Capalot sits just up from the road, behind the outsized red bench/pachina, & is home to some of Crissante’s oldest vines, many ‘pie franco’ that each year produce c. 200 magnums of late harvest, late release Barolo ‘La Punta’! Just below the same strada, over looking Santa Maria, is their tiny 0.8ha Galina at 300m asl, facing SW, on a poor, white calcareous clay (similar to Bricco Ambrogio in fact); 0.2ha was (high density) planted in the 1922 & then in 1945 on original rootstock (piede franco), while the rest was replanted using Michet clones in 2014, with final old vine vintage being 2016; it was first released as a Barolo ‘cru’ in vintge 2007; from vintage 2018 Galina will be aged in a 40HL botte grande. They also own vines in Bettolotti (facing Verduno) & (sandy) San Biagio (opposite the cantina), which are blended into their Barolo del comune di La Morra.
Keen to gain experience & insight, from vintage 2020 Alberto & his family began to buy fruit from Verduno’s Monvigliero vineyard, courtesy of a chance encounter with a fellow Santa Maria neighbour who was having trouble with red spider mite in his vineyard – a problem Alberto duly resolved, thereby beginning the relationship. From 2023, Alberto was fortunate to be able to buy organic Villero & Rocche di Castiglione fruit from a grower in Castiglione Falletto, & then in 2024 he completed the set by buying fruit from vineyard Lazzarito in Serralunga d’Alba. All four Barolos will be released under a separate ‘negoce‘ label to distinguish the provenance from their own estate fruit.
Vinification is traditional, using static, vertical stainless-steel fermenting tanks, light pumping over for delicacy (not submerged cap, that extracts more), classic maceration times of c. 20 days, malolactic in the steel tanks before transfer to botti grandi & barriques (to accommodate Galina’s tiny production). Pressed wine is all but excluded as Alberto prides himself on making one of the region’s finest & smoothest Grappa!
From 2013 converting to organic but non certificate.