History
1943 — Domenico Settimo establishes the farm
Domenico Settimo founded the agricultural estate in 1943 in Frazione Annunziata, La Morra. The operation began modestly, making wine principally for local consumption. Its vineyards lay in the Langhe hills of Piemonte, around the white estate building near the former Benedictine Abbey of San Martino di Marcenasco.
1962 — Specialisation in viticulture
In 1962 the Settimo family began concentrating the farm on viticulture. Aurelio, Domenico’s son, drove the estate’s subsequent development through close attention to vine cultivation, grape selection and traditional vinification. The family’s work became identified with the Aurelio Settimo label and gained recognition in Italy and abroad.
Viticulture and winemaking remained centred on estate-grown Langhe varieties. Care of individual vines and selective use of varieties suited to the local conditions became central principles, while the wines continued to be made through methods handed down within the family.
Succession from Aurelio to Tiziana
After Aurelio’s death, management passed to his daughter Tiziana Settimo. She inherited her father’s practical knowledge and maintained the estate’s traditional direction while pursuing continual improvements in vineyard and cellar techniques. Her tenure combined respect for the family inheritance with a modern, innovative outlook.
1994 — Integrated crop protection
From 1994 the estate followed EEC Regulation 2078, subsequently represented by Measure 214, for guided and integrated pest management. The programme regulates chemical inputs, favours products based on natural substances and provides specialist technical support informed by meteorological monitoring.
2017 — Certification and the fourth generation
From the 2017 vintage the wines carried The Green Experience certification, a collective Piemonte programme for integrated, sustainable production. The estate later also obtained the SQNPI mark for nationally regulated integrated production.
Also in 2017, Tiziana’s son Davide joined the family business after completing his studies at the Oenological School of Alba. Working alongside his mother, he became involved throughout the production cycle, from vineyard work and vinification to bottling. He represents the family’s fourth generation of winegrowers.
Terroir
The estate vineyards surround the winery in Frazione Annunziata, reached downhill from La Morra toward Alba and situated near the former Benedictine Abbey of San Martino di Marcenasco.
The principal named site is Rocche dell’Annunziata. Its estate holding comprises 3.42 ha of Nebbiolo with south to south-west exposure at approximately 270 m above sea level. The vines face the hamlet of Torriglione and receive sunlight from early morning until late afternoon. A basin formed between the San Martino hill and the Cerequio–Brunate hill provides shelter.
Rocche dell’Annunziata has rich, calcareous-clayey soil. The combination of soil, elevation and exposure is associated with full body together with delicacy and pronounced fragrance in the resulting Barolo.
A further 2.25 ha of Nebbiolo has south-east exposure and supplies the estate’s non-cru Barolo production. The estate also cultivates 0.97 ha of Dolcetto.
Winemaking
The estate cultivates 6.64 ha of vines: 5.67 ha of Nebbiolo and 0.97 ha of Dolcetto. The vineyards were planted in rotation at different times and currently range from 9 to 60 years old. Vines are trained to traditional Guyot at a density of 4,500–5,000 plants per hectare.
Pruning retains 8–10 buds. Crop size is subsequently adjusted by summer thinning in June and July, and the vineyards do not necessarily reach the maximum permitted yield every vintage. Maximum regulated yields are 8,000 kg/ha for grapes destined for Barolo DOCG, Barolo DOCG Rocche dell’Annunziata and Langhe DOC Nebbiolo, and 9,000 kg/ha for Dolcetto d’Alba DOC.
Integrated crop protection
Since 1994, vineyard treatments have followed the framework of EEC Regulation 2078, now Measure 214, for guided and integrated pest management. The programme controls the use of chemical products and favours products based on natural substances. Its principal disease targets are downy mildew and powdery mildew.
The Piemonte-supported programme includes assistance from a specialist viticultural technician. Meteorological stations are used to follow phytosanitary conditions, allowing participating growers to be advised when treatments should be applied.
The Green Experience
The wines have carried The Green Experience certification since the 2017 vintage. Its ten principles comprise:
- Environmentally compatible and sustainable viticulture and production.
- Protection of biodiversity and the natural environment.
- Aesthetic protection of natural and human-shaped landscapes.
- Priority for agronomic solutions and respect for the soil.
- Elimination of chemical herbicides beneath the vine rows.
- Sowing herbaceous and flowering species in the vineyards.
- Encouragement of useful pollinating insects.
- Installation of bird nests serving the cultivated ecosystem.
- Respect and honesty toward consumers.
- Traceable controls and external certification.
SQNPI
The estate has also obtained the SQNPI — Sistema di Qualità Nazionale Produzione Integrata mark, recognised under EC Regulation 1974/2006. SQNPI covers plant-derived agricultural products made in accordance with regional integrated-production protocols. It combines agronomic techniques with responsible fertiliser and plant-protection-product use, environmental safeguards, consumer safety and traceability throughout cultivation.
The system uses national guidelines to harmonise regional technical standards while retaining local climatic, environmental, crop and phytosanitary distinctions. It also requires adoption of regional protocols approved by MASAF and a traceability system demonstrating that certified products originate from farms applying those protocols.
Aurelio Settimo works exclusively with grapes from its own vineyards. Its core production is traditionally made red DOC and DOCG wine, with modern technology used in support of established methods.
Vinification cellar
The vinification room is used from grape crushing through racking. It contains temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks with automated equipment for breaking the cap. This section is above ground so that air can circulate naturally during fermentation.
Barolo remains on the skins for approximately 15–20 days, including submerged-cap maceration, frequent pumping over and frequent cap breaking. Dolcetto d’Alba has a shorter maceration of approximately seven days, while Langhe Nebbiolo remains on the skins for approximately 8–10 days; both also receive frequent pumping over and cap breaking.
Finished-wine cellar
The cellar rooms are 5 m high and built 3 m into the San Martino hill. This construction helps maintain an even internal temperature naturally: the rooms do not become excessively cold in winter and remain sufficiently cool in summer. Vitrified-concrete and stainless-steel tanks ranging from 3 to 52 hl are reserved for finished wines.
Dolcetto d’Alba and Langhe Nebbiolo mature in vitrified-concrete tanks. Barolo matures in traditional large casks of French and Austrian oak with capacities of 2,500–3,500 litres.
Bottling and storage
Cellar tanks provide approximately 1,500 hl of total storage capacity. Two rooms covering about 200 m² are dedicated to bottling, labelling, packaging and storing bottled wine. Their temperature is assisted by heating in winter and cooling in summer, and they can hold approximately 60,000 bottles.
Average annual production is about 40,000 bottles. Potential production in a vintage is described as 14,000 bottles of Barolo DOCG, 24,000 bottles of Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata and 8,000 bottles of Dolcetto d’Alba. Langhe Nebbiolo is selected from grapes that could otherwise enter Barolo: production of 8,000 bottles of Langhe Nebbiolo therefore reduces that vintage’s Barolo output by 8,000 bottles. Approximately 60% of production has been exported in recent years.
Philosophy
The Settimo family regards wine quality as the outcome of careful, committed work extending from the cultivation of each vine through vinification. Vineyard care and rigorous grape selection are the two principal foundations of this approach.
The estate aims to make wines that express the Langhe territory and the particular character of their grapes. Its identity is rooted in family knowledge and traditional methods, while technology and innovation are accepted when they support—not displace—respect for tradition and place.
Environmental responsibility forms part of the same philosophy. Agricultural practices are intended to protect biodiversity, vineyard health and soil, with integrated crop protection, planted vegetation, habitat for useful insects and birds, external controls and cultivation traceability.
Tiziana Settimo’s approach combines the knowledge inherited from Aurelio with continued refinement of cultivation and vinification. Davide’s entry as the fourth generation extends the family’s direct involvement across the entire production cycle.