About Giovanni Rosso

We are a small, family-owned producer in the heart of the Barolo commune of Serralunga d'Alba. We make predominantly red wines, and our passion is for Barolo and its great grape, Nebbiolo. Since the 1890's the Rosso family has farmed vineyards in Serralunga d'Alba, notably the Crus of Cerretta, La Serra, Broglio, Meriame, Sorano, Costa Bella, Lirano & Damiano. During the early 1980's Giovanni Rosso restructured the vineyards with the aim of growing the best fruit.

Giovanni's son, Davide, studied Oenology and gained invaluable experience in France. In 2001 Davide, then 27 years old, took charge of the vinification & affinamento/elevage of the wines with one goal in mind: "Wine should be a perfect copy of its terroir"... in this case from the slopes of Serralunga d'Alba, among the finest soils in the world.

Davide took on a side project in May 2016 with the purchase of the Etna estate near the village Solicchiata of Castiglione di Sicilia. The farm rises a few kilometers before Passopisciaro down to Montedolce, a small inactive crater that gives the name to the Contrada. We are in the northeast side of the volcano, a perfectly suited area for the production of red wines. The new holdings extend for fourteen hectares in one single plot among which just something more than six hectares are dedicated to viticulture: 1.2 ha for the whites and 5.5 ha for the reds (Carricante and Nerello Mascalese with small percentages of other local grape varieties, as the tradition requires). The training system has been renamed as "candelabro".

Viniculture

In terms of viticulture, we farm as organically as possible, using no artificial chemical treatments such as fertilizers, insecticides or weed-killers. Harvesting is 100% manual, as is pruning and tilling of the soil beneath the vines. Green harvesting is carried out as necessary and we allow plant growth between the rows of vines to encourage soil health and diversity in the vineyards.

The type of soil, altitude, exposure (the terroir) varies from one Cru to another; something that must be respected when working the vineyards. This work should also reflect the different weather patterns experienced each vintage. Savoir-faire learnt daily over the past 100 years enables us to understand perfectly the subtleties of each Cru.