# Barolo en Primeur 2026: A Record Night, and Money for the Pickers

_The sixth Grinzane charity auction raised 1,140,500 euro, and part of it goes to the seasonal workers in the Langhe vineyards._

> Il Vino Bello, 2026-10-24. Il Vino Bello editorial (https://ilvinobello.com/editorial/barolo-en-primeur-2026-a-record-night-and-money-for-the-pickers).

On Friday evening the sixth Barolo en Primeur sale at the Castello di Grinzane Cavour raised 1,140,500 euro, a new record for the charity auction. Bidders in the room were joined by links from London and New York, and the gavel was in the hands of Cristiano De Lorenzo, director of Christie's Italia. We previewed the sale [last month](https://ilvinobello.com/editorial/barolo-en-primeur-2026-barrels-old-bottles-and-christies-at-grinzane). Here is what sold, where the money goes, and why this year's choice of causes matters to anyone who loves these hills.

## A record, by a narrow margin

The organisers, Fondazione CRC Donare ETS and Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Cuneo, working with the Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani, say the 2026 total takes the project to 5,674,800 euro since 2021. That money supports more than 120 projects in health, social care, education and culture.

The previous best was the 2025 sale, at 1,130,300 euro. So the record was beaten by about ten thousand euro: steady rather than spectacular, in a year when, as we reported in our piece on [Piemonte's hard autumn](https://ilvinobello.com/editorial/full-cellars-cheaper-grapes-piemonte-wines-hard-autumn-explained), much of the region's wine trade is under real pressure. The press release gives the total only, not the price of each lot, so we cannot say which barrel or bottle fetched the most.

## What went under the hammer

The core of the sale was 14 barriques of Barolo from Vigna Gustava, the vineyard below the castle, all from the 2025 vintage and each vinified separately by the oenologist Donato Lanati. Each barrique will give 270 bottles. Buyers will not see them for a while: the bottles are to be delivered in 2029, at the end of the ageing the Barolo rules require.

Alongside the barrels were seven village lots of Barolo and Barbaresco, donated by 39 wineries of the Consorzio: 681 bottles, more than 660 litres of wine in all. New this year were 31 historic bottles, with vintages going back to 1996. Every en primeur bottle will carry a label reproducing "Paisaje de vino", a work by the Venezuelan artist Sol Calero.

The comedian Federico Basso filled the gaps between lots.

## Where the money goes this year

Most auction proceeds are spread across many causes, and the organisers say some will reach projects in Africa, China, the United States and, for the first time, Cambodia. But Fondazione CRC chose to single out two projects closer to home, both aimed at the seasonal workers who pick and tend the vines around Alba.

The first is the Accademia della Vigna, run by the social enterprise We.Co. in the wine sector of Alba, Langhe and Roero. The foundation describes its aim as building skills and social inclusion, and a model that joins excellent wine with social sustainability. When Sky TG24 reported on it in July 2024, the project offered a 12-month course of theory and practice leading to an annual contract of employment, and that year it had drawn 164 applications and involved 12 local wineries.

The second is a temporary night shelter in Alba, in premises provided by the Comune, for homeless people and seasonal workers with no stable home, "starting with those who work in the vineyards" (our translation).

This is not an abstract cause. On Monday we wrote about Caritas Alba's report on [the other Langhe harvest](https://ilvinobello.com/editorial/europes-no-2-wine-region-for-2027-and-the-other-langhe-harvest): pickers sleeping rough, makeshift camps and a sharp rise in meals served during the vendemmia. This year's auction money goes, in part, straight at the problem that dossier described.

## What the organisers said

Davide Merlino of Fondazione CRC Donare ETS said that "every euro raised at the auction turns entirely into social value" (our translation). Mauro Gola, president of Fondazione CRC, said the aim was to guarantee fair working and living conditions to those who work in the vineyards every day, so that a wine that speaks for the Langhe around the world also speaks for "a fair and welcoming society" (our translation).

Sergio Germano, president of the Consorzio, read the result as a sign of Barolo's standing, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States. "Markets change, consumption evolves, but quality remains, and that is what the consumer rewards," he said (our translation). He added that the en primeur formula, buying today a wine meant to grow in value over the years, could become an ever more useful tool for the whole denomination.

## One barrel left, and what you can do

The sale is not quite over. The fifteenth and last barrique will be auctioned on Sunday 8 November, during the Asta Mondiale del Tartufo Bianco d'Alba, the world white truffle auction, again at Grinzane Cavour, with a live link to Hong Kong.

Most of us will not be bidding on a barrique. But if you are in the Langhe this autumn, the castle is worth the visit for its regional enoteca and museum, and our winery pages list which estates receive visitors. In Serralunga d'Alba, [Massolino](https://ilvinobello.com/wineries/massolino-vigna-rionda) takes visitors by appointment; our [profile of the estate](https://ilvinobello.com/editorial/massolino-vigna-rionda-a-swapped-plot-and-130-years-in-serralunga) tells its story. And if you visit at harvest time, it is worth asking the estates you buy from how they hire their pickers.

## Sources

- [WineMag: Barolo en primeur 2026 raccoglie 1,14 milioni di euro, nuovo record](https://www.winemag.it/barolo-en-primeur-2026-raccoglie-114-milioni-di-euro-nuovo-record/)
- [Il Corriere di Alba Bra: Nuovo record per Barolo en primeur, la sesta edizione raccoglie 1.140.500 euro](https://ilcorriere.net/nuovo-record-per-barolo-en-primeur-la-sesta-edizione-raccoglie-1-140-500-e/)
- [Quotidiano Piemontese: Barolo en primeur raccoglie oltre 1,14 milioni di euro (23 Oct 2026)](https://www.quotidianopiemontese.it/2026/10/23/barolo-en-primeur-raccoglie-oltre-114-milioni-di-euro-per-progetti-solidali/)
- [Il Messaggero: Barolo da record, asta da oltre 1,1 milioni di euro](https://www.ilmessaggero.it/alimentazione/barolo_en_primeur_2026_asta_record_solidarieta_lavoratori_vigne-9845740.html)
- [Cuneodice: Nuovo record per Barolo en primeur](https://www.cuneodice.it/varie/alba-e-langhe/nuovo-record-per-barolo-en-primeur-la-sesta-edizione-raccoglie-un-milione-e-140-mila-euro_129204.html)
- [Sky TG24: l'esempio virtuoso di Accademia della Vigna (22 Jul 2024, background)](https://tg24.sky.it/lavoro/2024/07/22/caporalato-vigneti-langhe-accademia-della-vigna)
- [Targatocn: Sesta edizione per Barolo en Primeur (25 Sep 2026, 2025 total)](https://www.targatocn.it/2026/09/25/leggi-notizia/argomenti/attualita/articolo/sesta-edizione-per-barolo-en-primeur-solidarieta-bottiglie-storiche-e-aste-internazionali-al-ca.html)