Inside the cellar: the oenologists tell their story

Gianfranco joined in 1985, when Giordano produced only a few Piedmontese wines, and Andrea followed in 1992. They identify quality as the defining change of the following decades: closer attention at every stage, greater consumer knowledge, improved raw material and more precise preservation of varietal traits. Andrea argues that quality is created chiefly in the vineyard and that fewer cellar operations are desirable when the grapes are sound. Gianfranco highlights the more informed use of wood and barriques. Their daily work combines tasting, monitoring wine as it matures, deciding when to bottle, following bottle development and working with long-standing grape suppliers. Selection begins in the vineyard, after which components may be blended, tasted and matured.