Bruno Giacosa (died 21 January 2018) was an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

producer from the village

Neive Neive is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. Neive borders the following municipalities: Barbaresco, Castagnito, Castagnole delle La ...

in the

Langhe The Langhe (; ''Langa'' is from old dialect Mons Langa et Bassa Langa) is a hilly area to the south and east of the river Tanaro in the province of Cuneo and in the province of Asti in Piedmont, northern Italy. It is famous for its wines, chees ...

region (

Piemonte it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

), who produced a number of

Barbaresco Barbaresco is an Italian wine made with the Nebbiolo grape. Barbaresco is produced in the Piedmont region in an area of the Langhe immediately to the east of Alba and specifically in the ''comune''s of Barbaresco, Treiso and Neive plus that area ...

and

Barolo Barolo ( , , ; pms, bareul ) is a red (DOCG) wine produced in the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is made from the nebbiolo grape and is often described as one of Italy's greatest wines. The zone of production extends into the commu ...

wines, as well as bottlings of

Arneis Arneis is a white Italian wine grape variety originating from Piedmont, Italy. It is most commonly found in the hills of the Roero, northwest of Alba, where it is part of the white ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) win ...

Barbera Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy (after Sangiovese and Montepulciano). It produces good yields and is known for deep color, full body, low tannins and high levels ...

Dolcetto Dolcetto ( , , ) is a black Italian wine grape variety widely grown in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy. The Italian word ''dolcetto'' means "little sweet one", but it is not certain that the name originally carried any reference to th ...

and a

sparkling wine Sparkling wine is a wine with significant levels of carbon dioxide in it, making it fizzy. While the phrase commonly refers to champagne, European Union countries legally reserve that term for products exclusively produced in the Champagne regi ...

. Wines produced from owned vineyards are bottled under the label ''Azienda Agricola Falletto (di Bruno Giacosa)'', wines from bought grapes or from grapes from leased vineyards under the label ''Casa Vinicola Bruno Giacosa''. In terms of the production of

Nebbiolo Nebbiolo (, ; pms, nebieul ) is an Italian red wine grape variety predominantly associated with its native Piedmont region, where it makes the ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) wines of Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, G ...

, Giacosa was considered a traditionalist. He has been described as the "Genius of Neive". O'Keefe, Kerin, ''The Wine News'' (October/November 2006)
Barbaresco Breaks Rank

History

Initially in the tradition of ''commerciante'', Carlo Giacosa and his son Mario Giacosa preceded the third-generation Bruno Giacosa (b. 1929) who began working in the family business from the age of 15, having left school during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and began to learn their craft. Making wine only from purchased fruit from select vineyards, Giacosa worked to obtain what he deemed the best grapes available from an established network of growers dedicated to producing quality. O'Keefe, Kerin, ''The Wine News'' (October/November 2008)
Safeguarding Barolo
During the 1960s Giacosa was considered one of the three significant wine producers of Barbaresco, along with

Gaja Gaja () is a Sanskrit word for elephant. It is one of the significant animals finding references in Hindu scriptures, as well as Buddhist and Jain texts. Symbolism In general, a gaja personifies a number of positive attributes, including abund ...

and Produttori del Barbaresco, who demonstrated "the full potential of arbaresco. In 1964, Bruno Giacosa began bottling single vineyard Barolos and Barbarescos with the ''cru'' name on the label. This very first "cru" bottling was a Barbaresco and came from the Santo Stefano vineyard in Neive; it was the very first single vineyard bottling to be labeled as such in all of Piemonte. To this day, Bruno Giacosa cites this wine as his single favorite wine of his entire career! Like many of his contemporaries, for the first two decades of his career, Giacosa was content to buy grapes from farmers in the top vineyards in Barbaresco and Barolo and it was not until 1982 that he bought his first vineyard- the Falletto di Serralunga vineyard in Barolo. In 1996 he was able to also buy parcels in the highly-rated Asili and Rabajá vineyards in Barbaresco, taking ownership of plots of vines in two crus which he believed produced some of the finest fruit that he had sourced over the years. To most commentators, these two vineyards (along perhaps with Martinenga) are considered the finest in the village of Barbaresco. The Giacosa bottlings of Arneis also attracted attention as during the 1970s as one of only two producers making it along with Vietti, and helped bring the grape back from near extinction. Over decades Giacosa's reputation for perfectionism became continuously reaffirmed, and the wines "stylistically consistent and painstakingly crafted".Baudains, Richard, ''Decanter.com'' (May 23, 2006)
Beyond Barolo
/ref> Known for his exacting standards, Giacosa will not bottle any wine if the vintage does not meet his scrutinous quality standards, and the vintage will be sold off in bulk as wine that is termed ''sfuso''. ''

Decanter A decanter is a vessel that is used to hold the decantation of a liquid (such as wine) which may contain sediment. Decanters, which have a varied shape and design, have been traditionally made from glass or crystal. Their volume is usually equ ...

'' estimates Bruno Giacosa among Italy's

First Growth First Growth (french: Premier Cru) status is a classification of wines primarily from the Bordeaux region of France. The best of the best wines were assigned the highest rank of Premier Cru; only five wines, Château Lafite Rothschild, Châtea ...

s.Baudains, Richard, ''Decanter.com'' (March 13, 2007)
Italy's Classed Growths
/ref> The winery decided in 2013 that it will not be bottling its top reds from the 2010 vintage. Since 1990, Giacosa worked with the

oenologist Oenology (also enology; ) is the science and study of wine and winemaking. Oenology is distinct from viticulture, which is the science of the growing, cultivation, and harvesting of grapes. The English word oenology derives from the Greek word ' ...

Dante Scaglione, who remained with the firm for 16 years. In 2008, the oenologist Giorgio Lavagna was employed as the successor.Ramsdale, Suzannah, ''Decanter.com'' (June 10, 2009)
Bruno Giacosa will not bottle 2006 vintage
Benitez, Tina, ''Wine Spectator'' (October 9, 2008)
Winemaker Talk: Giorgio Lavagna
/ref>Ziliani, Franco, VinoWire.com (March 4, 2008)
Change of Guard at Bruno Giacosa: winemaker Dante Scaglione parts ways with historic winery
In May 2011, Dante Scaglione communicated his return as oenologist to Giacosa's winery.VinoWire.com (May 21, 2011)
Dante Scaglione to return to Bruno Giacosa
Bruno Giacosa suffered a stroke in January 2006 which left him unable to work at the winery though he since made a full recovery. Gradually, Giacosa's daughter Bruna Giacosa, has taken over an increased leadership role of the firm. In recognition of his achievements, the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Bra in Piedmont gave Bruno Giacosa an honorary degree in 2012.

Production

The Bruno Giacosa estate today encompasses of vineyards, producing about 400,000 bottles per year. In infrequent vintages that are deemed exceptional, a Riserva is produced which is given a red label. Vineyards lie in Asili and Rabajà in the Barbaresco zone, in

La Morra La Morra is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,668 and an area of .All demographics ...

and Serralunga. Barbaresco Santo Stefano, which became famous after Bruno began bottling it from the 1964 vintage, was produced from grapes grown by Italo Stupino at Castello di Neive. As of 2012 vintage the wine will be no longer bottled by Bruno Giacosa, as the firm moves towards an estate-only strategy for its top wines. The oenological philosophy has been described as "updated traditional". Maceration on skins may last up to thirty days, though not past fifty as in extreme traditional practices. ''Botti'' (traditional 50 hL casks) are used for

aging Ageing ( BE) or aging ( AE) is the process of becoming older. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi, whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biologically immortal. In ...

, but in French oak rather than

Slavonia Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Baranja ...

Azienda Agricola Falletto

The range of wines from vineyards owned by Bruno Giacosa. *;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

The range of wines sourced from the vineyards of growers that are Giacosa's traditional collaborators. *;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

References

External links

Bruno Giacosa official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giacosa, Bruno 20th-century births 2018 deaths Wineries of Italy Italian winemakers People from the Province of Cuneo