Ricordando Renato Vacca

Remembering Renato Vacca

BY ANTONIO GALLONI | MARCH 20, 2020 

Segue Versione Italiana 

I was deeply saddened to learn of the recent passing of Renato Vacca at just 51. Painfully shy and introverted, Vacca crafted gorgeous wines that capture all the pedigree nestled within the striking hillside vineyards of Barbaresco. He will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him and all those who his wines touched.

The Vacca family goes back four generations in Barbaresco, long before Barbaresco was the highly coveted wine it is today. Renato Vacca’s great grandfather purchased his vineyards from Domizio Cavazza, one of the most seminal figures in the history of the Langhe. Cavazza ran the Royal Enological School of Alba and founded the local Cantina Sociale, the pre-cursor to the Produttori del Barbaresco cooperative. The Vaccas were members of the Produttori until 1997, when Renato Vacca and his father, Adriano, decided to make wines for themselves at their Cantina del Pino estate, named after the pine tree Cavazza planted to celebrate the birth of his first son. Renato’s cousin, Aldo, is the Managing Director of the Produttori as well as one of Piedmont’s greatest ambassadors.

Piedmont is a special place for so many reasons, but mostly it comes down the soul of the wines and the people who make them. There is something very personal about Piedmont. Virtually all of the quality producers are quite small in scale. These aren’t wines made in fancy, gleaming new facilities, but more often than not crafted at small estates, where the wineries are part of the homes. Wine and life….they are one and the same here. Inseparable. That intimate quality is what so many consumers prize more than anything else; it’s what makes the wines so singular and it is certainly what first drew me to Barbaresco and Barolo. At the same time, there is a vulnerability that is impossible to miss, especially in moments like this, when someone passes away at a young age. Perhaps because the balance of daily life feels so fragile right now as the world combats COVID-19, this loss feels especially heavy.