The late, great Bartolo Mascarello, who joined the family firm in 1945, was the most steadfast defender of traditional local production practices, including co-fermenting/blending fruit from varied parcels and ageing only in large botti—his highly collectible, hand-painted 'no barrique no Berlusconi' label reflects his staunch political and philosophical concerns. Despite being labelled a has-been by some critics and peers, who lamented his commitment to ‘traditional’ Barolo amidst the rise of changing styles, Bartolo eventually received great recognition in 2002 by a leading Italian wine guide who praised his ethereal wines.

In 1993, Bartolo’s daughter, Maria Teresa had joined him at work, twelve years later she began running the cantina. Since then, Maria Teresa has delicately refined production techniques, replanted old vines, leased a new vineyard, and further strengthened the cantina's global renown. Barolo aside—a quintessential example with woody spices, bright cherry and grippy tannins—drinkers should also pay close attention to Maria Teresa's delicious Langhe Freisa, which is occasionally effervescent and consistently moreish!

The late Bruno Giacosa, who started working in the family cellar aged sixteen, found fame crafting outstanding Nebbiolo from carefully selected purchased fruit from vineyards often made famous by the wines he bottled. It wasn’t until 1982 that Giacosa acquired the Falletto di Serralunga d’Alba vineyard after increases in estate bottlings made purchasing fruit more difficult. Made only a few times each decade, Giacosa’s ‘red label’ riserva Barolo and Barbaresco are among some of the most sought-after of all fine wine. In 2006, Giacosa suffered a stroke which left him unable to work at the winery despite purportedly later making a full recovery. Longtime oenologist, Dante Scaglione continued winemaking until leaving the estate in 2008 only to return three years later.

Little has been written, or shared for that matter, about Giacosa’s particular vinification methods. Nevertheless, one can be sure that, as is true for almost every imminent fine wine, there is no great secret. The more practical reason for Giacosa’s excellence, albeit less exciting, is a lifelong commitment to refining a ‘simple’ set of practices coupled with a clear vision. Giacosa knew exactly what he had to do to forge imposing, monumental wines with bewitching aromatics and baroque texture. Whilst contemporary releases haven’t met these same breathtaking standards—many consider 2005 the final great vintage—the estate remains of great significance and has in recent years produced increasingly compelling releases, defined by greater restraint, complexity and mouthfeel.

In Barolo's most northernly commune, Fabio Alessandria manages his 19th-century family estate founded and established by Giovan Battista Burlotto before 1900. Giovan was a a spirited entrepreneur and under this stewardship, Burlotto was made supplier to the Savoy Royal Household and was the only supplier to the Duke of Abruzzi’s expedition to the North Pole. G.B. distinguished himself by selling bottled wine bearing his estate’s name (in the manner of French châteaux) and then received accolades on the international scene. This tireless work helped make the village of Verduno as renowned as Serralunga or La Morra. 

Nevertheless, most of the estate’s production was consumed domestically, meaning successive wars were acutely troublesome. Then in 1927, Giovan died and passed ownership of the winery to his son Francesco, who died prematurely passing management to his grandson Ignazio. During this period, the estate sank into relative obscurity. Despite two difficult decades spanning 1960 to 1980, Ignazio’s daughter, Marina kept Burlotto afloat. Marina also married Giuseppe Alessandria in 1973, who then took responsibility for the cellar. Even in difficult times, Marina and her husband continued to innovate; in 1982 they began bottling single-vineyard Barolo; grew and bottled a varietal Pelaverga (now cultivated by twelve producers!); and in 1986, were the first producers in the Barolo zone to plant Sauvignon Blanc. 

In 1988, Marina’s son, Fabio, began studying Viticulture and Oenology followed by continued studies at university. In the early 2000s, Fabio officially joined the family business, later taking charge and continuing to manage the estate. Under his management, Burlotto is once again celebrated globally (as is Verduno!), receiving frequent perfect scores, expanding landholdings, and experiencing increasing prices in secondary markets. Importantly, the wines are increasingly magnificent, particularly the Monvigliero - one of the region’s very best wines.

Unsurprisingly, winemaking is uncomplicated: almost everything is destemmed, minus the Monvigliero and Dolcetto, helped by a new, gentler destemmer; reds are fermented in conical, open-top wooden fermenters (tine); indigenous fermentation is preferred, but Fabio is not religious and won’t risk spoilage; maceration generally lasts up to 20 days, except Monvigliero, which can last as long as 60 days with a submerged cap. Following maceration, a small pneumatic press is used and the skins are pressed with low pressure, then ageing is in large botti, followed by further élevage in bottle to help ‘resolve’ the wines. The resultant wines are multidimensional, elegant and staggeringly complex, boasting vivid and precise aromatics, an enlivening texture and a long, sapid finish!

In 1870, wealthy landowner, Filippo Cappellano amalgamated 60 hectares around Serralunga d’Alba and founded a significant family business. The vineyards were later renovated by his son, Giovanni who also constructed two hotels in Alba and began developing grape sales in the French market after it had been devastated by phylloxera. Simultaneously, Giovanni’s brother, Giuseppe invented the famous Barolo Chinato, a fortified aromatic wine that combines Barolo and spirit infused with twenty herbs. By 1955, both Giovanni and Giuseppe had died, and management of the estate—now significantly smaller—was left to Francesco Augusto Cappellano, and then to his son Teobaldo who elevated the estate to its current stature. Baldo purchased a large plot in Gabutti (Otin Fiorin), revived Chinato production and replanted a few small rows to ungrafted Nebbiolo Michet (Pie Franco).

After Baldo died in 2009, his son Augusto assumed management, renovating the cellars and continuing to refine longstanding production practices. Vineyard management is delicate, fruit is harvested carefully, vinification is ‘traditional’ via indigenous yeast in cement and slavonian botte, and there is limited sulphur and no filtering before bottling. The resultant wines are brooding and expansive, boasting ripe, resolved tannins and a dense fruit core—consistently amongst the best of the vintage.

No producer in all Piemonte is more famous than Gaja. The family arrived from Spain during the 17th century, eventually opening a tavern in Barbaresco where they later served guests their unlabelled wines. Following World War II, Giovanni Gaja expanded significantly, purchasing a series of prime vineyard sites and branding his bottles with the family name in bold red lettering. In 1961, Angelo Gaja—whose industrious nature was strongly influenced by his grandmother Clotilde—joined his father working in Barbaresco after completing studies in winemaking in Alba and Montpellier, and in economics at the University of Turin.

Angelo began running the family business in 1970, beginning a period of transformation, revolution and significant commercial expansion. In the winery, Gaja implemented French barriques, thermo-controllable fermentation equipment, advancements in malolactic fermentation, and many more technological advancements. In the vineyard, he instigated experiments with green harvest, bottled single-vineyard wines, and planted French grape varieties, including Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. The results were spectacular, and those wines spanning 1960-1990 are among the greatest fine wines ever made. Gaja also travelled widely, marketing his wines in restaurants and with fine wine merchants as far as America, where his wines achieved much higher prices than any Italian counterpart. He later established a distribution company, later establishing relationships with international producers, including a partnership with Riedel. Expansion followed later, including wineries and vineyards in Tuscany and Etna—the family’s restoration of the Saint Restituta church is breathtaking.

Today, though Angelo is not formally retired, his children Gaia, Rossana, and Giovanni run the business and are navigating a new era growing their presence with on-trade clients. Whilst Gaja might not enjoy the same fanfare it once did amongst collectors, the wines remain highly attractive, fruit-focussed, polished and dense with great ageing potential.

It’s not clear exactly when cantina Giacomo Conterno was founded, but it is certain that when Giacomo Conterno returned from service in WWI and bottled his first estate riserva in 1920 (which would then become Monfortino—perhaps the most famous Barolo in production) the estate began its great ascendancy. For the next 54 years, Giacomo and his son made two Baroli from purchased grapes, the distinguishing factors being fermentation technique and time in cask.

In 1961, Giacomo’s sons, Giovanni and Aldo, took over the family estate, eventually parting ways over conflicting winemaking philosophies. Giovanni continued managing the business and in 1974 purchased the family’s first vineyard: Cascina Francia in Serralunga. With this purchase, he immediately ceased purchasing fruit, relying on 9ha of Nebbiolo (and 5ha of Barbera) to produce 600 cases of Monfortino and 1500 cases of Cascina Francia. In 1988, Giovanni’s son, Robert came to work with his father, eventually assuming management in 2004. Roberto has overseen a period of expansion in landholdings and a diversification of business interests. In 2008, he purchased a vineyard in Cerretta and in 2015 purchased the 9ha Arione vineyard next to Cascina Francia, which he snatched from the wealthy Krause family, who had been aggressively buying swatches of land. Roberto also purchased an estate in Gattinara, launched a glassware range, invested in vineyard robots, and more recently opened a restaurant in La Morra.

Today, the wines remain highly celebrated and the cantina of great importance—Monfortino remains the most expensive of all the region’s wines (regularly commanding over £1000). They are imposing, rich and austere boasting spicy, menthol bouquets and heaps of texture with the potential for very long ageing.

In 1918, the famed Barale & Rinaldi winery was split in three: Francesco Rinaldi, Barale Fratelli, and Giuseppe Rinaldi. In 1947, after his father’s death, Battista Rinaldi accepted management of the family winery. Battista was also the mayor of Barolo from 1970 to 1975, and the first president of the town Enoteca. In 1992, he died and left the estate to his son, Giuseppe ‘Beppe’ Rinaldi. Like his cousin, Bartolo Mascarello, Beppe was a staunch traditionalist with a profound concern for maintaining local heritage. Despite this commitment, Beppe studied keenly, even—despite claims that modernists rarely left Barolo—arranging trips for local producers to visit peers in France. Beppe also excitedly welcomed international visitors to the cantina, such a rare occasion that he documented the visits in his personal diary.

In 2008, Beppe’s daughter Marta, a keen enologist, joined him working in the winery. Four years later, his second daughter Carlotta, an avid agronomist joined her father and sister. Sadly, Beppe died in 2018 after succumbing to a harsh unspecified illness. Today, Marta and Carlotta expertly manage the estate, delicately optimising inherited practices. Notably, Carlotta’s vineyard work is among the most interesting in all Piemonte, going as far as to consider in each plot whether to leave trimmings depending on whether they might be a net drain on nitrogen. In the winery, three Barolo are vinified: Tre Tine (Ravera, Le Coste and Cannubi San Lorenzo), Brunate (Brunate and Le Coste), and now Bussia. The wines are fermented in wooden vats, there is no submerged cap, pumpovers take place from day two encouraging plenty of air, followed by punchdowns after alcoholic fermentation. Maceration lasts around 20 days followed by a delicate basket press and barrelling—ageing in botti is a little shorter these days and the wines are better for it.

These wines are deservedly hunted by wine lovers worldwide, they’re intensely aromatic, dense and layered with complimenting acids and austere tannins which melt with age.

Now living out his ninth decade, Lorenzo Accomasso occupies cult status among wine lovers some seventy vintages after joining his father working in La Morra. Besides green pruning following the dismal harvests of 1972 and 1973 and ditching demijohns around the turn of the millennium, very little has changed at this unassuming cantina marked by a rickety wooden signpost. Lorenzo farms just three hectares of Nebbiolo and a little Barbera and Dolcetto, ferments are spontaneous lasting 50-60 days in concrete vats and very long ageing in concrete and botti is customary. The resulting wines can be inconsistent, but on good days they're intensely singular, full-bodied and concentrated with bewitching aromatics.

'If I were born again ten more times I would still do this” Accomasso has told visitors, reflecting on his lifelong committment to producing Barolo. Alas, this humble farmer is not immortal, today, Simona and her children Lara and Lorenzo Jr welcome friends, tend the vineyards and manage the winery, continuing Lorenzo's formidable legacy and maintaining this iconic cantina.

In 1894, Domizio Cavazza founded Barbaresco’s first cooperative, the Cantine Sociali. In 1920, the Cantine was forced to close; it wasn’t until 1958 that the cooperative reemerged as the Produttori del Barbaresco. For around 10 years, the Produttori made only one wine; the first release of a single-vineyard wine was in 1967, and in 1975, a Langhe Nebbiolo was made.

In 1984, the cooperative hired a full-time professional winemaker who remains at the winery to this day, having spent his entire career working with just one grape. All single-vineyard wines undergo the same vinification, fermenting in 50 and 100-hl temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. Meanwhile, the Langhe Nebbiolo is fermented in concrete tanks, which are maintained in the old winery. The wines spend 20 days on skins with pumpovers 2-3 times per day for the first week. Once fermentation is almost complete, the cap is submerged, and the must is fermented bone dry. The wines are then aged in a combination of 25, 50 and 75hl French and Slavonian oak, all maintained for at least 25 years.

Today, the cooperative is managed by a board of 9 farmers and a president, elected by the 54 members once every three years. As more efficient and effective equipment has become available, the board has encouraged the growers (who are paid based on sugar, colour intensity and phenolic ripeness) to invest a percentage of their profits into updating winery facilities and equipment, including a new pneumatic crusher-destemmer and a comprehensive barrel rejuvenation programme. The finished wines are high quality and great value, with concentrated flavours and a classic tannin profile with vitalising acids.

As more local growers achieve roaring success bottling their own wines, selling fruit in obscurity to a cooperative may prove unattractive to younger growers. In Barolo, where no such cooperative exists, a growing cohort of young growers have garnered critical acclaim, allocating their entire productions and demanding global attention. In this changing landscape, the Produttori may struggle to retain all its growers, and for wine drinkers, this is arguably no bad thing.

In 1961, Giacomo Bologna—who Angelo Gaja recognised as pivotal in raising Barbera to new heights—inherited vineyards from his father and established his namesake winery. By the 1980s, Giacomo was inspired to begin cultivating and bottling Barbera as a fine wine, including ageing his wines in French barriques for extended periods. His first notable success was his 1982 Bricco dell’Uccellone, a single-vineyard Barbera aged for over 16 months in oak barrels. The wine's debut at the 1984 Vinitaly wine fair marked a significant turning point, garnering attention for its innovative approach. Following Bricco dell’Uccellone, Bologna introduced Bricco della Bigotta in 1985 and Ai Suma in 1990. Ai Suma, meaning "we've done it" in local dialect, was a tribute to his quest for perfection and was produced from late-harvested grapes in exceptional vintages.

After Giacomo's passing in 1990, his children, Giuseppe and Raffaella, assumed management of their father’s estate. Giuseppe oversees viticulture and production, while Raffaella manages operations. Since their taking over, Braida has expanded its portfolio, including Il Bacialè, a blend of Barbera and other international varieties, and a sparkling Barbera, La Monella. Today, the family cultivates over 70 hectares across the Asti region, producing approximately 700,000 bottles annually. The full-bodied Barbera are among the region’s very best, with bold, secondary aromas, dark fruit flavours and chunky structure with high acids.

In 1978, Walter Massa took charge of Vigneti Massa, his family’s winery in Monleale, established in 1879. Massa was already interested in indigenous varieties and was perturbed by local preoccupations with planting and celebrating international varieties. Massa later began experimenting with atypical vines planted in his established vineyards, which he soon realised was Timorasso. Walter bottled his first varietal Timorasso in 1987, releasing 570 bottles made from just 400 scattered vines. By 2005, 30 Colli Tortonesi growers were producing 120,000 bottles of Timorasso. Massa produced twenty thousand of these bottles and can surely be credited with the grape's revival.

Today, Massa principally farms Timorasso, Barbera and Croatina, managing 30 hectares of cultivated vineyards: 15ha of Timorasso, 8ha of Barbera, 3ha of Croatina, 1.5ha of Freisa and Moscato Bianco, and 1ha of Cortese. The finished wines are high quality, complex and aromatic, and staggeringly undervalued. Despite being popular amongst wine enthusiasts prices have hardly risen appreciably—the ‘top’ Derthona (which is perhaps the best example of this) can be had for hardly more than $40. Readers should indulge whenever they get the chance!