History
The Pira family
The Pira family appears in Barolo parish registers as winegrowers from the 17th century. Between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the family expanded from growing grapes into making wine.
Gigi Pira represented the estate’s traditional school of production. He assembled grapes from the family’s holdings in Cannubi, San Lorenzo and Via Nuova, believing that fine wine depended first on choosing the finest vineyards. His commitment to inherited methods extended to foot-treading: he was the last local producer to continue crushing grapes by foot and making wine without technical equipment.
The Boschis family takes over
From 1980, continuity was secured by Chiara Boschis and her parents, Franco and Ida. The Boschis and Pira families were already connected by friendship and mutual respect. The Boschis family itself had produced Barolo since the 18th century and is now in its ninth generation.
After completing her degree, Chiara devoted herself full-time to wine. By the end of the 1980s she had become one of the first women to produce Barolo. Her direction brought changes to both the cellar and the estate’s production style, moving the historic house toward a considered balance of innovation and tradition.
Expansion and organic farming
In 2010, Chiara’s brother Giorgio joined her in the ownership of the estate, bringing approximately 30 years of experience and sharing responsibility for work in both vineyard and cellar.
The estate applied for organic certification and entered conversion in 2011. Certification was achieved beginning with the 2014 harvest. Vineyard operations are performed manually, with careful environmental stewardship and production limited to grapes grown directly by the estate.
The evolution of Via Nuova
Via Nuova was originally a very small vineyard close to the village of Barolo. Its name referred to the road—new in the previous century—that linked Barolo with Novello; only a walkable path through the vineyards remains. Its grapes were vinified separately for many years.
When Barolo’s Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive were reorganized and entered into force in 2010, the municipality incorporated Via Nuova into the larger Terlo subzone. Following the disappearance of Via Nuova as an independent cru, the estate retained the name for a traditional multi-vineyard expression assembled from Terlo and Liste in Barolo, Ravera di Monforte and Mosconi in Monforte d’Alba, and Gabutti and Baudana in Serralunga d’Alba.
Terroir
Geological setting
Piemonte is described as three broad, semi-concentric geographical zones: an outer mountain arc formed by the Western Alps and the Apennines, an inner plain, and the extensive hills of the Langhe and Monferrato.
The landscape began forming during the Cenozoic or Tertiary period, approximately 2–4 million years ago, when the area was under the sea. Sediment carried by waterways descending from the mountains progressively shifted the coastline eastward. Roughly 2 million years ago, the gradual uplift of the mountains and plain caused the sea to retreat definitively from Piemonte. Tectonic movement then raised and tilted the ancient stratified sediments of the present Langhe, while slow erosion by surface water shaped the hills into their current form.
The soils are principally calcareous-clay marls interlayered with sandstone. Within the Barolo DOCG zone, formations are divided into two geological-age types identified as Elveziano and Tortoniano.
Topography and mesoclimate
The Barolo DOCG area occupies the centre of the Langhe and encompasses 11 communes, with Barolo at its centre. Many of the recognised “Grandi Vigne” are small parcels distinguished by their exposure, elevation, soil composition and mesoclimate.
The local climatic setting is influenced by the Po Valley in front of the hills and the Maritime Alps behind them. The Maritime Alps provide protection from Atlantic air currents.
The estate’s Barolo-commune vineyards—Cannubi, Liste and Terlo—stand between 300 and 330 m above sea level. Mosconi, Le Coste and Ravera in Monforte d’Alba range from 340 to 420 m. In Serralunga d’Alba, Gabutti is at 260 m and Baudana at 400 m.
Site-specific soils
Cannubi combines Tortoniano and Elveziano formations with a substantial sandy component. Its vineyard has a southerly exposure; the 2010 technical description further identifies calcareous-sandy Marne di Sant’Agata of Tertiary-Miocene origin and a south to south-west exposure.
Mosconi has older Elveziano soils composed of grey-toned calcareous-clay marl alternating with siliceous sandstone. Calcium carbonate and iron create warmer, slightly pink tones in some areas.
The estate’s Barbera vineyards and the estate vineyards supplying Dolcetto are planted on Elveziano formations. The latter are described as pale grey to pink calcareous-clay soils alternating with siliceous sandstone and containing calcium carbonate and iron.
The six vineyards assembled under the Via Nuova name encompass calcareous-clay and calcareous-silt marls with seams of sand and sandstone, originating in the Tertiary Miocene. Their combined exposures extend from south and south-east to south-west.
Winemaking
The estate follows certified organic farming practices and has been certified since the 2014 harvest, following conversion from 2011. Vineyard work is rigorously manual and is intended to combine close attention to grape quality with minimal environmental impact.
Winter work consists of short, gentle pruning and tying. One fruiting cane is retained per vine, limited to a maximum of nine buds and fastened to the trellis. Spring shoot thinning removes surplus non-fruitful shoots.
During vegetative growth, the shoots are arranged or “combed” along the full height of the row. This keeps the canopy orderly and promotes ventilation throughout the vine.
Crop control is repeated two or three times after fruit set. Excess bunches are removed to reduce yield, support complete ripening and improve the balance of the fruit’s components.
Harvest is performed by hand at full phenolic maturity, with strict selection and sorting of the grapes. The estate vinifies only fruit from vineyards it cultivates directly; the vineyards are almost entirely estate-owned. Rows adjoining non-organic vineyards belonging to other growers are treated as buffer strips, and their Nebbiolo fruit is directed to the Langhe Nebbiolo rather than the estate’s Barolo bottlings.
The cellar is in the commune of Barolo, facing the square at the junction of Via Monforte and Via Vittorio Veneto—the location locally known as Via Nuova. Only grapes from vineyards cultivated directly by the estate are vinified.
Fermentation
The grapes are crushed and destemmed. Red-wine fermentation takes place on the skins in automatic fermenters, with an emerged cap and temperature control at approximately 28°C. Punch-downs and pump-overs are carried out daily throughout the fermentation. After draining, the pomace receives a light pressing. The wine is settled off the lees and racked, then undergoes malolactic fermentation.
Maturation
Barolo matures for approximately two years in lightly toasted 225-litre French oak barriques and large 2,000- and 2,500-litre oak casks. Cannubi and Mosconi are vinified separately to preserve and emphasise the characteristics of their individual vineyards. Via Nuova follows the older blending tradition, bringing together six vineyards from three communes.
Langhe Nebbiolo and Barbera mature in second-use barriques for approximately 12 months. Dolcetto remains in stainless steel.
The 2010 protocol for all three Barolos used the same vinification and maturation approach specifically to make the geo-climatic differences among the vineyards more legible. Alcoholic fermentation took place under an emerged cap in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks with frequent pump-overs and punch-downs. Maturation used very lightly toasted French oak, 30% of it new; the Cannubi and Mosconi records specify 2,000-litre vessels. The wines then received one year of bottle ageing.
Bottling and bottle ageing
Bottling normally takes place without filtration or fining. Dolcetto is the exception: because it is bottled young and has insufficient time to clarify naturally, it receives a light filtration. Barolo rests in bottle for approximately one year before release. Langhe Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto receive approximately two to three months of bottle ageing.
Philosophy
The estate’s production philosophy joins innovation with tradition. Its objective is to bring elegance and balance to wines whose traditional profile is structured and austere.
Gigi Pira’s guiding idea was that excellent wine begins with fruit from the best vineyards. His own practice expressed tradition through blended vineyard sources and entirely manual production, including foot-treading.
Under Chiara Boschis, renewal in the cellar and production style has been combined with site-sensitive winemaking. Cannubi and Mosconi are kept separate to express their individual characteristics, while Via Nuova preserves the historical principle of blending vineyards. Applying the same stylistic protocol to the three Barolos has served the complementary aim of exposing, rather than masking, the geo-climatic differences among their origins.
In the vineyards, the declared priorities are meticulous manual work, respect for the territory, certified organic cultivation and minimal environmental impact. Production remains deliberately limited and is based exclusively on grapes grown directly by the estate.