Virna Borgogno

Family vineyard roots: 1720

The Borgogno family’s vineyards date to 1720, establishing a viticultural connection with Barolo more than two centuries before the creation of the modern estate.

Foundation of the modern estate: 1950

Enrico Borgogno founded the present wine estate in 1950. During the 1950s and 1960s, the family combined fruit from several vineyards for its traditional multi-site Barolo. That inherited combination remains the basis of Barolo Noi.

Lodovico Borgogno subsequently devoted his working life to wine and promoted Barolo directly to customers wherever he travelled. His belief in Barolo, personal independence and ability to build relationships became formative influences on the family business. The estate maintained direct relationships with private customers, including the traditional sale and delivery of Nebbiolo in demijohns.

Virna enters the cellar: 1988

Virna Borgogno completed studies in oenology and oenological techniques, becoming the first woman in Italy to obtain the qualification in Tecnica Enologica. In 1988, she began working alongside her father Lodovico in the management of the cellar. Their collaboration included frequent debate over technical and business decisions. Those discussions helped prepare Virna and her sister Ivana to assume responsibility for the estate.

A female-led identity: 2001

In 2001, the estate renewed its visual identity by introducing the “Virna” logo, placing greater emphasis on the central role of women in the winery. Management subsequently passed fully to Virna and Ivana. Virna took charge of winemaking, while Ivana assumed administrative and commercial responsibilities and became the final family palate for every wine before bottling.

Expansion across the Langhe

The family assembled approximately 10 ha of owned vineyards. Cannubi, Sarmassa and Preda are situated in the commune of Barolo, while other parcels extend into Novello, Monforte d’Alba and La Morra. San Giovanni in Monforte supplies a single-site Barbera d’Alba. Montersino in Treiso extended production into Barbaresco DOCG, while Brunate subsequently joined the Barolo cru range.

Sarmassa has formed part of the family’s history for more than four decades. Virna’s grandfather nicknamed this south-facing, wind-protected vineyard “l’Africa” because of its warm position. Successive generations exchanged practical knowledge there and sometimes brought bottles into the vineyard when reconsidering production decisions.

Hospitality and diversification

In 2012, the first-floor apartment at La Casetta di San Giovanni—a traditional Langhe farmhouse among the vineyards between Barolo and Monforte d’Alba—was completely restored for guest accommodation. At the main estate, the family created a large tasting room overlooking Cannubi and opened its vineyards and ageing cellars to guided visits led by Virna, Ivana or Lorenzo.

New varieties and the next generation

In 2021, the estate introduced StoFuori, a Langhe DOC white made from Timorasso grown in the Langhe. Its name reflects both the instinctive decision to work with the variety and its position outside Timorasso’s traditional Tortona area.

By 2025, Lorenzo Serafino—Ivana’s son and Virna’s nephew—was active as the latest family generation. Educated at the same school in Alba as Virna, he works principally in production. He assumed full responsibility for the 2023 Langhe Nebbiolo and tested shorter macerations and cooler fermentations to preserve freshness, while continuing the family’s established use of long wood ageing for Barolo.

The estate is based just outside the centre of Barolo, in the Langhe of Piedmont. Its approximately 10 ha of owned vineyards are distributed across several communes and contrasting sites: Cannubi, Sarmassa and Preda in Barolo; other Barolo parcels in Novello, Monforte d’Alba and La Morra; San Giovanni in Monforte d’Alba; and Montersino in Treiso.

Cannubi Boschis lies at 250–260 m with a southeast exposure. Its calcareous formation includes clay-limestone marl, fine sand and white marl. Sarmassa is only about 300 m away but has compact, clay-rich ground. Its south-facing position receives abundant sunlight and is sheltered from winds. This warm setting led Virna’s grandfather to call it “l’Africa.”

Montersino stands at 300–320 m, faces southeast and combines calcareous material with fine sand and white marl. The multi-parcel Barolo vineyards in the wider Barolo area range from 280 to 350 m and face southeast and southwest. Parcels used for Barolo del Comune di Barolo occupy south- and southeast-facing positions at 250–260 m.

Fruit selected for the reserve may combine two geological contexts: a compact, sand-rich clay zone identified with the Helvetian epoch and a Tortonian zone composed of limestone, silt and fine sand.

Vintage conditions remain an important variable. In 2020, a mild winter was followed by regular rain in May, June and July. The summer avoided heat waves, while large day–night temperature differences in September preserved acidity, producing a balanced growing season.

Viticulture follows The Green Experience programme, developed in the UNESCO-listed hills of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato. Its objectives are to preserve soil resources and biodiversity, protect the cultivated and natural landscape, and maintain the distinctive character of Piedmontese production.

The programme prioritises agronomic and natural solutions over chemical inputs. Chemical herbicides are excluded from the vine rows. Herbaceous and flowering species are sown in the vineyards, useful pollinating insects are encouraged, and bird nests are installed to support species beneficial to cultivation. Its ten rules cover environmentally compatible production, biodiversity, protection of the natural and cultivated landscape, soil care, elimination of chemical weeding, cover planting, pollinating insects, bird habitats, honesty toward consumers, traceable controls and external certification.

Rainwater is channelled, managed and reused for agricultural treatments. Yields are deliberately contained through balanced vines. Owned woodland is retained to compensate for carbon emissions. Vineyard decisions respond to the conditions of each season; preparation for harvest considers ripeness, sugars, acidity, weather, diurnal temperature changes and the needs of each individual site.

The cellar combines traditional Langhe élevage with decisions tailored to individual lots. Virna leads winemaking, with Lorenzo Serafino increasingly active in production and Renzo documented as a colleague consulted by Virna. Ivana performs the final family tasting before every bottling.

Red grapes are generally crushed and destemmed. Skin maceration varies by grape and site: approximately 6–7 days for Barbera in temperature-controlled rotary-paddle fermenters; around 10 days for Cannubi and the Barolo township blend; 10–12 days for Barolo Noi and Montersino; 12–15 days for selected reserve lots; and approximately 15–20 days for Sarmassa. Nebbiolo fermentations commonly reach a maximum of 29–31°C. Délestage is used for the Barolo township blend to improve polyphenol extraction, while rack-and-return operations are also used for reserve lots. Remontage and temperature management form part of harvest-time cellar work.

The estate retains a predominantly traditional Langhe approach to ageing. Barolo Noi matures in large oak casks. Cannubi and Sarmassa use combinations of larger vessels and tonneaux: Sarmassa is aged in Slavonian oak casks and 500 L French Allier barrels, while Cannubi uses oak vessels of approximately 300–500 L. Selected reserve components spend about 18 months in oak before 3,000 L from chosen vineyards are blended and matured for another 12–18 months in a 30 hL cask. Montersino matures for approximately 12–15 months in large oak casks.

Several lots complete maturation in stainless steel before bottling. Cannubi is bottled without filtration. Bottles are stored horizontally before release—commonly for at least six months and, in one Cannubi protocol, for one year.

Lorenzo’s work on the 2023 Langhe Nebbiolo introduced shorter maceration and lower fermentation temperatures to preserve freshness. These choices reflect the broader principle that technique should respond to the vineyard and vintage rather than follow an inflexible formula.

The family’s production philosophy combines inherited Langhe practice with decisions made for each vineyard and vintage. Large oak casks remain fundamental, but tonneaux and smaller barrels are used where the individual site or lot calls for them. The objective is not to impose uniformity: nearby vineyards such as Cannubi and Sarmassa are worked comparably yet remain distinct because of their soils.

Virna describes wine as having its own life and evolution, often doing much of the work itself. Scientific technique, tradition, intuition and experience offer different possible routes rather than absolute certainty. Her role is therefore one of sustained care: observing the wine, questioning decisions and avoiding neglect. Harvest is approached in the same way, with ripeness, acidity, weather and each vineyard’s needs determining the sequence of work.

The estate’s understanding of quality also includes family judgement. Virna directs production, Lorenzo contributes the outlook of the latest generation, and Ivana tastes every wine immediately before bottling. The “Virna” identity introduced in 2001 deliberately expresses the importance of women in the business.

Environmental responsibility is pursued through The Green Experience: protecting soil and biodiversity, eliminating chemical herbicides, favouring agronomic solutions, caring for the UNESCO viticultural landscape, tracing controls and communicating honestly with consumers. Solar electricity, rainwater reuse and the retention of woodland extend this approach beyond the vine rows.

Hospitality follows the same family-centred outlook. Visits are designed to be personal and unhurried, creating direct contact between guests, owners, vineyards, ageing cellars and the family’s history.