Bruno Giacosa facts for kids
Bruno Giacosa (died January 21, 2018) was a famous Italian wine maker. He came from the village of Neive in the Langhe region of Piemonte. Bruno Giacosa made many different wines, including well-known Barbaresco and Barolo wines. He also produced wines like Arneis, Barbera, Dolcetto, and even a sparkling wine.
When wines were made from vineyards he owned, they were sold under the label Azienda Agricola Falletto (di Bruno Giacosa). If the grapes were bought from other growers or from leased vineyards, the wines were sold under the label Casa Vinicola Bruno Giacosa. Bruno Giacosa was known for sticking to traditional ways of making Nebbiolo wines. Many people called him the "Genius of Neive" because of his skill.
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History of Bruno Giacosa's Wines
Bruno Giacosa's family had been in the wine business for a long time. His grandfather, Carlo Giacosa, and his father, Mario Giacosa, were also wine merchants. Bruno Giacosa was born in 1929. He started working in the family business when he was just 15 years old, during World War II. This is how he began to learn all about making wine.
In the beginning, Giacosa only bought grapes from special vineyards. He worked hard to find the best grapes from growers who cared about quality. By the 1960s, Giacosa was seen as one of the top three Barbaresco wine producers. The others were Gaja and Produttori del Barbaresco. They all showed how amazing Barbaresco wine could be.
In 1964, Bruno Giacosa started bottling Barolos and Barbarescos from single vineyards. He put the vineyard's special name, called a cru, right on the label. The very first wine bottled this way was a Barbaresco from the Santo Stefano vineyard in Neive. This was the first time a single vineyard wine was labeled like this in all of Piemonte! Bruno Giacosa always said this was his favorite wine he ever made.
For many years, Giacosa bought grapes from farmers in the best Barbaresco and Barolo vineyards. It wasn't until 1982 that he bought his very first vineyard. This was the Falletto di Serralunga vineyard in Barolo. Later, in 1996, he also bought parts of the highly-rated Asili and Rabajá vineyards in Barbaresco. He believed these vineyards produced some of the best grapes he had ever used. Many experts think these two vineyards are among the finest in the Barbaresco area.
Giacosa also helped bring back the Arneis grape. In the 1970s, he was one of only two producers making Arneis wine. This helped save the grape from almost disappearing.
Over the years, Bruno Giacosa became famous for being a perfectionist. His wines were always made with great care and had a consistent style. He had very high standards. If a year's grapes did not meet his strict quality rules, he would not bottle the wine. Instead, he would sell it in bulk, calling it sfuso. Some experts, like Decanter magazine, even compare Bruno Giacosa's wines to Italy's very best, like "First Growths." For example, in 2013, the winery decided not to bottle its best red wines from the 2010 year because they weren't perfect enough.
From 1990, Giacosa worked with a wine expert named Dante Scaglione for 16 years. Later, Giorgio Lavagna took over in 2008. But in 2011, Dante Scaglione returned to work as the wine expert at Giacosa's winery.
In January 2006, Bruno Giacosa had a stroke. This meant he couldn't work at the winery for a while, but he later recovered fully. Slowly, his daughter, Bruna Giacosa, started taking on more of the leadership role at the company.
In 2012, the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Bra, Piemonte, gave Bruno Giacosa an honorary degree. This was to celebrate all his amazing achievements in winemaking.
How Bruno Giacosa Made Wine
Today, the Bruno Giacosa estate has about 20 hectares (about 50 acres) of vineyards. They produce around 400,000 bottles of wine each year. In very special years, when the grapes are truly exceptional, they make a "Riserva" wine. These special bottles have a red label.
Their vineyards are located in famous areas like Asili and Rabajá in the Barbaresco zone. They also have vineyards in La Morra and Serralunga. The Barbaresco Santo Stefano wine, which became famous after Bruno started bottling it in 1964, used to be made from grapes grown by another family. However, starting with the 2012 vintage, Bruno Giacosa decided to only use grapes from his own vineyards for his top wines.
The way they make wine is called "updated traditional." This means they use some old methods but also some newer ideas. For example, the grape skins might stay with the juice for up to thirty days. This helps give the wine its color and flavor. They use large, traditional wooden barrels called botti for aging the wine. These barrels are made from French oak wood.
Azienda Agricola Falletto
These are wines made from vineyards that Bruno Giacosa owned:
- Barbaresco DOCG Asili
- Barolo DOCG Falletto
- Barolo DOCG Le Rocche del Falletto
- Barolo DOCG Vigna Croera
- Barbera d’Alba DOC Falletto
- Dolcetto d’Alba DOC Falletto
Casa Vinicola Bruno Giacosa
These are wines made from grapes bought from other growers. These growers were long-time partners of Giacosa:
- Barbaresco DOCG Santo Stefano di Neive
- Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC
- Nebbiolo d’Alba DOC Valmaggiore
- Dolcetto d’Alba DOC
- Dolcetto d’Alba DOC Basarini
- Roero Arneis DOCG
- Classic Method "Spumante" Extra Brut
Images for kids
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A bottle of 2001 Bruno Giacosa Nebbiolo d'Alba.
