Vineyard Questions:

What is the history of the land you are on? What was it used for before your winery owned it or did someone else own it previously?

We have owned our vineyards since 1897, so for a long time. Before that, if there weren’t vineyards, we think local farmers cultivated fields with grains, corn etc.

What clones and selections are used?

We use autochthonous clones and vines – ones from this area. Some A20 A/S04 for Nebbiolo and Dolcetto.

Where does the water sources for the vineyard(s) come from?

We don’t irrigate so nutrients come from the subsoil.

What trellising systems does the winery use? Why do you prefer that system?

We use Single Guyot. This leads to the best ripening given the exposure and slope of the hills.

What are the different soil types from each of the vineyard sites? What do these soils do for your wines?

In Dogliani, the soils are rich in clay, tuff, and limestone, which give the wine great freshness and a wonderful expression of fruit.

In Barolo, there is a lot of marl that gives more finesse and elegance.

Monforte has even more calcareous marl soils, which give important tannins and a lot of structure.

Towards Neive, the richness of the various minerals gives great expression to the wine in terms of the variety of the aromas.

Do any of your vineyards have names? If so, is there a story behind those names?

The Vigna Costa Grimaldi cru, which is in Barolo (Terlo is the subzone), has always had that name.

Vigna “Tecc” in Dogliani takes its name the Italian word tetto, or roof, (Tecc is part of the local dialect). It is named for the farms located on the highest hills of the area (tiny villages). The ones you could easily see in the past at night, or even if there was fog.

If you have large vineyards, do you only use a portion of the vineyard to produce specific wines? How did you choose what portions to use?

We do a lot of pruning to reduce the number of grapes produced and to guarantee the quality of the product. So, our selection process covers the whole vineyard, not just parts.

Winery Questions:

What makes your winery different from others in the region? In Italy?

We are a historic company, founded in 1897 by the first president of the Italian Republic: Luigi Einaudi. We’ve always been passionate about production and have made innovative and well-conceived investments in total respect for the area and our past.

What is the winery’s long-term plans regarding production levels, vineyard replanting, style of winemaking, consumer targets, etc.

Over the last six years, we’ve greatly invested in the winery, with the purchase of new parcels in Barolo and to renovate the cellar. Over the next two years, we’ll be offering two new Barolos (two single vineyards) and plan to increase the quantity of Langhe DOC by 5%.

We have new presses and concrete tanks that allow us to maintain the typicity of the various wines and increase the quality.

What vintage had the most challenges and what were those challenges? How did you overcome them?

Certainly the most difficult we had to face in recent times was 2014, which was very rainy and cold. It was a true challenge for growers. We had to continually monitor vineyards, do treatments, and thinning that led to a 40% reduction in production. By doing this, we guaranteed excellent freshness in the Nebbiolo and Barolo wines. We didn’t make any white wines, which suffered due to the weather conditions.