Storia
Cooperative roots in the eighteenth century
The cooperative tradition of Vinchio predates the modern winery. During the eighteenth century, farmers developed an early form of collective management in Vinchio’s medieval castle, jointly administering livestock, cellars and the communal granary. The castle was subsequently demolished during the nineteenth century, but the local habit of cooperation endured.
The agricultural crisis and foundation in 1959
During the 1950s, Piemonte’s grape market became increasingly punitive for small farmers. Vineyard work was arduous, margins continued to contract, and grapes were sold cheaply to buyers who often vinified them elsewhere in the region. The growers lacked both bargaining power and the infrastructure needed to process a highly perishable crop independently.
On 26 February 1959, 19 winegrowers from Vinchio and Vaglio Serra decided to pool their investments, facilities and expertise. Their agreement also overcame a longstanding rivalry between the two municipalities. After debate over which village should host the cellar, a flat site was selected on the boundary between them. The founders themselves constructed the building at speed so it could receive the 1959 harvest. The original structure remains the core of the vinification facility.
The cooperative was created to protect local growers, give farming families a viable income and make grape growing economically sustainable. Quality was part of the project from the outset, especially for Barbera. Although much of the early production was purchased by other Piedmontese producers for bottling, Vinchio Vaglio became closely associated with quality Barbera.
Giancarlo Cellino served as director from the foundation until his retirement in 2001, guiding the cooperative’s establishment and development for more than four decades.
Old vines and the qualitative turn
In 1985, when the prevailing tendency was to replace low-yielding old vineyards with more productive, mechanisable plantings, consultant oenologist Giuliano Noè proposed a different course. The cooperative began identifying the best Barbera vineyards over 50 years old and compensating growers for maintaining them. Technical and financial support made it possible to preserve vineyards whose small crops were otherwise economically disadvantageous.
The Vigne Vecchie project moved into production in the second half of the decade; archive captions identify 1987 as the project’s birth and record that year’s harvest with Mognà Majina and Franco Laiolo. The grapes were hand-harvested into perforated crates, manually unloaded and processed on a dedicated line. The project’s early success encouraged closer collaboration among growers, agronomists and cellar specialists.
In 1989, Vigne Vecchie Bricco Laudana achieved the highest price per litre at the Barbera auction held at Castello di Costigliole d’Asti. The record reinforced the cooperative’s quality strategy and the standing of the Laudana vineyards.
Protection of Val Sarmassa
Plans emerged around the beginning of the 1990s to convert woodland around Vinchio, Vaglio Serra, Incisa Scapaccino and Cortiglione into a large landfill. Local communities formed a protection committee, while Vinchio Vaglio promoted a petition opposing the development. The landfill project was withdrawn, and in 1993 Val Sarmassa received protected-reserve status. A later account describes this result as the culmination of roughly two decades of local mobilisation against speculation, degradation and landfill development.
Bottling, cellar investment and new projects
In 2001, newly elected president Lorenzo Giordano and director Ernestino Laiolo began the difficult transition toward selling the cooperative’s entire production in bottle under its own identity. Staff were recruited to strengthen the Vinchio Vaglio brand and its commercial reach. The same year saw the creation of Sei Vigne Insynthesis from six selected Barbera vineyards; Bric d’la Gramula has formed part of this selection since then.
Between 2001 and 2009, the winery invested in modern vinification machinery and quality-control infrastructure. In 2004, its environmental-management system was certified under UNI EN ISO 14001. In 2009, for the cooperative’s fiftieth anniversary, a modern bottling line and a new hillside barrique cellar were inaugurated. Vigne Vecchie 50 was also introduced, using the same old-vine resource as Vigne Vecchie but presenting a younger, fresher interpretation. Bag-in-Box packaging was adopted for part of the range in the same year.
A 200 kWp photovoltaic installation followed in 2011. From 2012, Vigne Vecchie and Vigne Vecchie 50 complied with the voluntary UNI EN ISO 22005:2008 supply-chain traceability standard.
Territory, hospitality and sustainability
The Vineyard Landscape of Piemonte became a UNESCO World Heritage property in 2014, recognising the long relationship between cultivation and landscape to which the cooperative’s members contribute. Vinchio Vaglio subsequently purchased woodland beside the cellar and the Val Sarmassa reserve, restored an old trail and installed tables, fountains and woven-willow shelters known as the Nidi.
The first grapes for Vinchio Vaglio’s Alta Langa project were harvested in 2016. Its first release reached the market in autumn 2020. The Nidi trail project was conceived for the cooperative’s sixtieth anniversary in 2019 and formally opened in 2020, while a complete restyling of the corporate identity, labels and communications also began in 2020.
In 2023, Vinchio Vaglio obtained Equalitas Sustainable Winery certification, joined The Old Vine Conference and installed a refrigeration system using R290 propane, with a global-warming potential of 3 and no ozone-depletion potential. Membership of The Old Vine Conference connected the cooperative’s vineyards—some now more than 80 years old—with an international programme for safeguarding old vines and sharing best practice.
On 28 November 2024, a new governing board was named. The cooperative’s ownership remains vested in its members’ assembly, while the board is elected for three financial years.
The cooperative today
Vinchio Vaglio now brings together approximately 200 members cultivating over 550 hectares. Each member farms independently but delivers the full grape crop to the cooperative, which handles vinification, maturation, bottling and commercialisation. Annual output exceeds 35,000 hectolitres, including more than one million bottles and one million Bag-in-Boxes. Approximately 75% of the vineyard resource is devoted to Barbera.
The cooperative continues to combine shared agronomic and oenological expertise with democratic governance. Its stated long-term purpose is to create value for its members and their communities while preserving cultivated land, biodiversity and the cultural landscape of Monferrato.
Terroir
Setting
The members’ vineyards lie mainly in Vinchio and Vaglio Serra, with smaller holdings in Incisa Scapaccino, Cortiglione, Nizza Monferrato, Castelnuovo Belbo, Castelnuovo Calcea and Mombercelli. The area belongs to the Alto Monferrato hill system in southern Piemonte. Vinchio and Vaglio Serra occupy opposing hills between the Tiglione valley to the north and the Belbo valley to the south.
Many vineyards cling to steep slopes at the edge of woodland. The gradients make mechanisation difficult or impossible but give the vines prolonged sunlight and favourable exposure throughout the day. Typical yields are low, at approximately 1.5–2 kg of grapes per vine. The combination of sunlight, adequate sugar accumulation and marked day–night temperature variation supports aromatic development during ripening.
Soils
The wider vineyard area is predominantly calcareous and sandy, but marked local differences occur. Vinchio contains calcareous-clay soils associated with acidity, structure and ageing capacity. Its western exposures are sandier and are linked with fresher, more elegant expressions.
Vaglio Serra’s soils resemble those toward Nizza Monferrato, with substantial clay and bands of red earth. These conditions are associated with greater structure and deeper colour. Around Nizza Monferrato, clay-calcareous white soils contribute fruit and aromatic definition through their calcium component, while clay supports structure and longevity.
Bricco Laudana has sandy soils with a comparatively small clay component. The combination is associated with aromatic intensity, structure and the ability to age. Other vineyards occupy red, compact soils or mixed sandy, calcareous and clay formations, giving the cooperative a broad range of possible expressions.
Marine fossils and small shells occur along the Val Sarmassa trails. They preserve evidence that the land was submerged during the Pliocene before retreating seas left shells and small mammals beneath layers of sand and clay.
Vineyards and woodland
Vineyards occupy the most suitable slopes, while woods remain on ridges and less accessible land. This alternation forms a mosaic of cultivated and wild habitats. Locust trees, mature oaks, wild orchids, lily of the valley, insects and wildlife contribute to local biodiversity. The woodland can also harbour pests, encourage diseases such as flavescence dorée and encroach on vineyard space, so growers manage a continuing balance between cultivation and habitat preservation.
The 230-hectare Val Sarmassa reserve includes historic vineyards, ridge and valley-floor woodland, fossil deposits and varied plant and animal habitats. Its proximity shapes both the landscape and the cooperative’s understanding of territorial stewardship.
Recent climatic record
The 2025 season followed the exceptional rain of 2024 and the drought years of 2021–2023. Winter brought around 50 days below 0 °C between leaf fall and budding. Annual rainfall totalled approximately 600–700 mm, close to the area’s normal range. Late spring temperatures rose above 30 °C, while maximum temperatures remained above 30 °C from 4 to 20 August and frequently approached 35 °C. Veraison occurred early, between 15 and 22 July. Harvest began in mid-August for early varieties and in early September for later grapes, including Barbera.
Vinificazione
The cooperative operates a permanent viticultural technical service that advises members on vineyard planting, fertilisation, soil work, equipment, the choice and timing of phytosanitary interventions and broader sustainable management. Agronomic support is combined with the accumulated experience of individual growers.
Chemical inputs are reduced to what is considered strictly necessary. Copper and sulphur are used in place of systemic products, while leguminous cover crops replace herbicides in relevant situations. Treatments are not applied on a fixed calendar: interventions are made when climatic conditions create a genuine risk of pathogen development.
The Vigne Vecchie and Vigne Vecchie 50 vineyards follow a more restrictive regime. Selected vines must be at least 50 years old; some now exceed 80 years. Work remains manual, avoiding machinery-related soil pressure and direct operating emissions. Treatments are limited to copper and sulphur, and fertilisation is exclusively organic. The cooperative supplies technical support and higher remuneration to compensate growers for the very small crops and labour requirements of these vineyards.
Hand harvesting is central to selected vineyards and quality projects. Old-vine grapes are picked into perforated crates to protect bunch integrity and are manually fed onto a dedicated reception line. During the challenging weather before the 2025 harvest, leaf removal was limited to the less sun-exposed side of the canopy, maintaining airflow without exposing bunches to excessive heat. Selection began in the vineyard and continued with careful sorting so that only healthy grapes entered production.
The surrounding landscape is managed as an alternation between vineyards and woods. The woodland provides habitat continuity but also demands control where insects, flavescence dorée or encroachment threaten vines. Preservation of this cultivated-wild mosaic is treated as part of biodiversity stewardship rather than as a separation between farming and nature.
Winery and grape reception
The original winery building, constructed by the 19 founders for the 1959 harvest, remains in use as the vinification facility. A modern grape-reception plant integrated with Industry 4.0 technology was among the first installations of its kind in Piemonte. Quality management extends from grape intake through bottling and delivery, with data traceability across the production chain.
Fermentation and cellar practices
The cooperative uses modern, temperature-controlled vinification equipment. Only selected yeasts originating from the local area are used to initiate fermentation, with the aim of preserving grape and territorial character. Sulphite levels are maintained 30–40% below the legally permitted limits.
The winery works with several maturation media according to the intended expression: stainless steel, concrete, oak casks and French oak barriques. Its principal barrel cellar is excavated into the hillside, where natural temperature and humidity remain stable. Selected wines mature there in barriques and French oak vessels.
Bottling and packaging
A modern bottling line installed in 2009 handles standard bottles, magnums and Bag-in-Box formats. Some products, including certain sweet wines, are bottled by an external specialist, while Vinchio Vaglio supplies the bottles, cartons and labels and retains control over packaging specifications.
The current packaging programme uses glass bottles across the bottled range. Approximately 80–90% of production uses bottles below 420 g, superseding an earlier threshold of 558 g. Typical still white and red bottles outside the selection range weigh 395 g; sparkling and sweet-wine bottles and lightweight selection bottles weigh 557 g; Charmat bottles weigh 750 g; and Alta Langa and other traditional-method bottles weigh 900 g.
Closures comprise approximately 82% microgranulated technical cork, 15% recyclable aluminium screw cap and 3% natural cork. Some technical closures have a negative carbon footprint. The choice between technical and natural cork follows bottling simulations for each wine and is credited with reducing emissions by 66.4 tonnes of CO2 annually. Cartons use recycled and recyclable raw materials.
Bag-in-Box has been used for selected wines since 2009. Its flat-shipped cardboard outer, flexible internal bag and air-excluding tap reduce transport space, packaging mass and exposure to oxygen after opening. The format reduces the packaging component of the wine’s carbon footprint by more than 7%.
Utilities and environmental controls
A 200 kWp photovoltaic system installed in 2011 supplies a substantial share of electricity. In the 2023/2024 reporting period, on-site production covered approximately 40.76% of annual electricity consumption; 99.02% of the generated power was consumed at the winery. LED lighting is being extended throughout the facility.
Water use is monitored relative to production and is driven primarily by changes between red- and white-wine runs and the hygiene requirements of storage and production equipment. An automatic tank-washing machine limits water and cleaning-product consumption. Detergents are selected according to environmental criteria, including degradability, and wastewater quality is monitored to protect local hydrogeological systems.
A new refrigeration plant installed in 2023 uses R290 propane, with a global-warming potential of 3 and zero ozone-depletion potential. The system includes automated connections to all tanks and replaced older refrigerant technology.
Filosofia
Vinchio Vaglio defines cooperation as a means of enabling winegrowers to continue cultivating their land. Wine is understood as the consequence of a collective agricultural project rather than the sole purpose of the organisation.
Its mutualistic model is designed to create value for all members rather than maximise returns for a small group of investors. Members share facilities, technical knowledge, equipment and market access that would be difficult to sustain individually. Each has one vote regardless of vineyard size or invested capital.
Quality begins in the vineyard. Agronomic knowledge, growers’ experience, careful grape selection and interpretation of individual sites are considered more decisive than the legal structure or production scale of the winery. Technology is used to preserve and transmit the quality created in the vineyard rather than to replace agricultural work.
The preservation of old vines expresses the balance between quality, economic viability and heritage. Growers maintaining low-yielding vineyards receive technical and financial support so that historically important plantings remain productive instead of being uprooted.
Sustainability is organised around three inseparable dimensions: environmental responsibility, people and economic resilience. The cooperative seeks to align its own development with that of the surrounding community, maintain viable farming families, protect cultivated slopes from abandonment and preserve the relationship between vineyards, woodland and biodiversity.
Tradition and innovation are treated as complementary. Old vineyards, inherited skills and local varieties coexist with modern grape reception, temperature control, traceability, renewable energy and packaging research. Vintage differences are addressed through parcel selection: Barbera vineyards and interpretations are chosen according to the conditions of each year rather than forced into a single formula.