The Borgogno estate comprises 12 hectares of vineyards rich in history and renowned for quality. Located immediately north of the village of Barolo, it has been the family home of Lodovico and his daughters Virna and Ivana Borgogno, since 1720.

60,000 bottles are produced annually, 70% of which is Barolo, from 8 hectares of prime vineyard parcels. The most prized vineyards are the ‘cru’ Sarmassa (next to Cerequio) and Cannubi-Boschis (which is adjacent to the home). Classically styled Barbera & Dolcetto d’Alba, and more modern Langhe Arneis and Rosso come from a variety of small vineyard holdings throughout the district, totalling an additional 4 hectares. A new cellar was completed in time for the 2005 vintage.

From the 1950s, Lodovico began introducing new practices in order to extract the highest possible quality from his vineyards. In 2001 Virna became the owner & winemaker, recognized by the addition of her name to the estate. Now, she and her sister Ivana honour the tradition of Barolo while highlighting their wines’ qualities with modern winemaking methods. A variety of large oak (barrique, tonneaux & botti) is used for aging, with the intention of capturing the subtlety and texture of Nebbiolo, not simply raw power. Not meaning to sound cliché, but these are indeed very feminine, very expressive wines — taut, aromatic, ethereal Barolo.

Cannubi Boschis is one of the iconic ‘cru’ of the village of Barolo, with only Virna & Sandrone historically bottling. But as of the 2015 vintage, the wine will be known only as Cannubi. Why the change? Cannubi itself is a large and prestigious vineyard, resulting in several surrounding vineyards (including Boschis, Muscatel, San Lorenzo, and Valletta) appending Cannubi to their names. No doubt this has caused some confusion for consumers. Add to this, the fact that one of the larger wineries in the region wanted to increase production of Cannubi, and well, you end up in court. The end result is that all the various Cannubi vineyards are now collectively known only as Cannubi.

Virna’s Cannubi is from the same blocks of estate-owned vineyard as always (formerly Cannubi Boschis). She also produces a powerful ‘cru’ Sarmassa, and Barolo di Barolo – from 2 cru vineyards, 85% Preda /15% Sarmassa. Virna’s ‘normale’ Barolo is named ‘Noi’, meaning ‘us’ or ‘we’, acknowledging that her’s is a shared craft. The estate-owned vineyards providing the fruit for Barolo Noi include Cannubi (Boschis), Preda and Sarmassa in Barolo, as well as Cerviano-Merli and Sottocastello in the commune of Novello. Cannubi and Sarmassa are meant to express the terroir of the individual cru, with little intervention in the cellar; while Barolo di Barolo is a more modern style, raised in a mix of wood, to find the right character. Noi is an elegant, classic, regional expression of Barolo.

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