1949
The story of my grandparents is that of attentive winemakers who sold grapes at the Alba market and wine in the nearby Piedmontese plain and in Liguria.
In 1949, my father Orlando, born in 1936, an only child, lost his father at the age of 13. The family lands were entrusted to a farsighted sharecropper who increased the property’s efficiency by planting new vineyards in the Cappelletto hamlet.
1960
After completing his studies, Orlando devoted himself to other professions and meanwhile vinified part of the grapes from sharecropping.
1960
After completing his studies, Orlando devoted himself to other professions and meanwhile vinified part of the grapes from sharecropping.
1973
Orlando decided to return to work his own land, a lifestyle choice against the tide in years when working as an employee in “the city” offered greater economic security.
It was in this year that the first bottle of Barbaresco produced by the company was labeled.
“In those years, if you moved only 20 km from here, no one knew what Barbaresco was.”
Orlando Abrigo
1973
Orlando decided to return to work his own land, a lifestyle choice against the tide in years when working as an employee in “the city” offered greater economic security.
It was in this year that the first bottle of Barbaresco produced by the company was labeled.
“In those years, if you moved only 20 km from here, no one knew what Barbaresco was.”
Orlando Abrigo
1981
The arrival of the DOCG!
The Barbaresco receives the DOCG recognition, and the memory is still a source of joy, excitement, and pride for my father Orlando.
1986
Giovanni, the second of Orlando’s 4 children, in his fourth year of the school of viticulture, manages his first harvest. He works before and after school, driven by great passion, and he begins to transfer the knowledge acquired through his studies to the company.
1988
After completing the “Umberto I” Higher Institute with a specialization in enology in Alba, Giovanni enrols in the Enology and Viticulture Course which he will conclude a few years later, graduating as an Enologist.
This is also the year in which Orlando, having recognized his son’s preparation and passion, leaves the management of the company to him.
“Gianni immediately said yes, but on one condition: that he would decide everything. He told me that, to start with, we had to purchase new equipment and renovate the premises of the cellar.”
Orlando Abrigo
1988
After completing the “Umberto I” Higher Institute with a specialization in enology in Alba, Giovanni enrols in the Enology and Viticulture Course which he will conclude a few years later, graduating as an Enologist.
This is also the year in which Orlando, having recognized his son’s preparation and passion, leaves the management of the company to him.
“Gianni immediately said yes, but on one condition: that he would decide everything. He told me that, to start with, we had to purchase new equipment and renovate the premises of the cellar.”
Orlando Abrigo
1996
The purchase of the first vineyard in the Montersino cru.
Until then the Nebbiolo da Barbaresco vineyards were located only in the Merruzzano cru. In 1996 the range was completed with this precious vine of great quality.
2013
Until then we had concentrated on the purchase of new vineyards, in the Valmaggiore-Vezza d’Alba vineyards of Nebbiolo, Neviglie and Neive vineyards of Nebbiolo and Nascetta.
The cellar is conceived as a place of “conservation” of quality: low-ceilinged rooms, easily conditioned and for the most part underground where it is possible to work easily veered by gravity in the vinification, aging and bottling phases.
A simple and rational structure.
Designed by Architect Marco Ferreri, the new cellar is a point of technical and qualitative avant-garde.
Today
Today the company is managed entirely by Giovanni Abrigo and his collaborators.
From the original 3 hectares of land belonging to the family, the company now has 21 hectares of vineyards owned.