From our Importer: A stone’s throw from the village center of Barbaresco, the winery was established by Giovanni Giordano in the 1930s during a time of profound crisis in the Italian wine world. After a period of growing and selling grapes, Giovanni’s son, Luigi, made the bold decision to vinify his own fruit, bottling the first wine under his label in 1958. For an independent grower like Luigi to bottle his own wine at a time when plans to establish an official appellation in Barbaresco were only in their infancy was nearly unthinkable. Today’s winery remains a spirited family effort, driven by the shared vision of Luigi himself, his daughter Laura, and his grandson Matteo. Together, they produce timeless wines from vineyards planted in some of Barbaresco’s most prestigious crus,
including Asili and Montestefano. Another Barbaresco bottling from the cru of Cavanna showcases the winery’s elegant, hands-off style of winemaking and represents the only single vineyard bottling of its kind.

While business grew and Luigi established himself as a grower-producer during the second half of the twentieth century, the winery continued to reinvest in the land. The vineyards of the estate now stretch across seven hectares in Barbaresco on the slopes of prestigious crus like Montestefano, Asili, Ovello, Ronchi, Cars, and Cavanna. Giordano grows exclusively indigenous varieties, including Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Arneis, on these legendary hills. Today, Luigi remains an inspiring presence as his daughter Laura and grandson Matteo, a graduate of the enology school in Alba, have gradually assumed daily activities in the vineyard and the cellar.

Luigi Giordano’s small family winery is situated in Barbaresco, among the hills that frame the Tanaro River’s sinuous course, at the very heart of Piedmont’s wine country. Of the four villages comprising the Barbaresco appellation, Barbaresco proper not only lends its name to the zone but also dominates in terms of production. Containing 24 MGAs (Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive as classified, historical vineyard sites are termed), the village of Barbaresco accounts for 47 percent of all wine produced in the appellation.

Among these vineyards, few command as much respect as Asili, championed by many legendary producers including Produttori del Barbaresco, Ceretto, and Bruno Giacosa, who was the first to bottle Asili under a single-vineyard label in 1967. The cru of Asili features sand veins snaking their way through otherwise chalky clay soils, giving rise to wines with profound tension and elegance as well as bright aromatics and understated power. The Giordano family's parcel is at the southwestern corner of the vineyard, where it bends toward the cru of Faset. Once considered less desirable than due-south-facing plots, this cooler aspect now offers fruit of great balance and complexity in the current era of rising temperatures. The family also produces wine from the similarly grand Montestefano cru. This vineyard was the first in all of Barbaresco to be bottled as a single cru. Beppe Colla did so in 1961 when he owned the historic Prunotto estate. Both Luigi Giordano and Produttori del Barbaresco followed suit in 1971. Montestefano is prized for its heavy, blue-toned clay soils famous for producing structured, powerful, deeply colored wines, which have been described as “the most Barolo among Barbarescos” by A Wine Atlas of the Langhe.
This indispensable tome covering the wines of the Langhe alludes to Montestefano’s unmistakable notes of leather, tobacco, and truffle, all of which are reflected in Giordano’s exceptional version. Compared to the winery’s other Barbaresco bottlings, Montestefano typically undergoes a few extra days of maceration in cement tanks and two additional months in barrel, after which the wine is returned to cement before bottling. In excellent vintages, Giordano will reserve the best fruit from this vineyard for a Riserva to ultimately be bottled in magnum.

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