2003 Barbaresco Roncaglie

Like so many of his colleagues Tino Colla is a guardian of the rich history of the Langhe. Spend some time with Colla and you come away with a deep understanding of the region, its traditions, and what it means to be connected to a territory. The Colla family has been involved in Piedmontese enology for several generations. Tino's older brother Beppe owned the Prunotto winery, which he managed from 1956 to 1992, before selling the estate to Antinori. Following the sale of Prunotto, the Colla family purchased the Cascina Drago estate, just outside of Alba, which Tino runs today with his niece Federica. At age 75, Beppe is still actively involved in the winery, packing bottles into boxes on the day I visited. Turning to Barbaresco, Tino Colla showed me a map of the vineyards of the town of Barbaresco, including Colla's vineyards in Roncaglie, perhaps best known as being the source of Angelo Gajas's Costa Russi and Sorì Tildin. The map was produced by Alessandro Masnaghetti, one of Italy's most well-respected journalists. It very meticulously shows the boundaries of the various vineyards and ranks them according to quality. Apparently the map was too accurate, and some producers were upset with the rank of their vineyards so the map was never officially published, nor was a similar map drafted for the vineyards of Neive and Treiso. “People talk a lot about wanting to formally rank the vineyards here, but when personal interests are at stake, that desire mysteriously disappears,” says Colla.