Langhe · Winery · Curated profile

Giovanni Abrigo

Giovanni Abrigo

Giovanni Abrigo is a family estate in Diano d'Alba, in the Piemonte Langhe, founded in 1968 by Giovanni Abrigo and now run by his grandsons Giulio and Sergio, the third generation, after their parents Giorgio and Paola expanded the business. The family farms about 11 hectares around Diano d'Alba, plus a further 2 hectares leased in the Ravera cru of Novello, in the heart of the Barolo zone. Dolcetto remains the estate's core business, led by two single-vineyard bottlings: Sori dei Crava, from a south-west-facing parcel above the farmhouse, and Garabei, from vines planted the year the estate was founded. Barbera, Favorita, Arneis and a single Barolo from Ravera round out the range. Diano d'Alba is one of the Langhe's Dolcetto villages, with its own appellation, Dolcetto di Diano d'Alba DOCG, set on the sandy, limestone-rich soils the locals call Arenarie di Diano.

At a glance

Region
Langhe, Piemonte, Italy
Address
Via Santa Croce, 9, 12055 Diano d'Alba (CN)
Tours
Available
Tastings
Available
Wines listed
11
Website
https://www.abrigo.it/

Visits & tastings

A visit here means walking the vineyards and cellar with the family before tasting in the room upstairs, with the Langhe hills spread out from the terrace. Visits are by appointment only, arranged through the website's contact form.

Tastings

  • Farm shop tasting · current releases and older vintages aged at the winery, with the chance to buy

Tours

  • Cellar and vineyard tour · guided by the family · ends with a tasting in the tasting room

Good to know

  • By appointment only, book ahead via the website form
  • Terrace with panoramic views over the Langhe hills

Contact

Wines from Giovanni Abrigo

  • Dei Frisu: Barbera d'Alba Superiore DOC, Barbera 100%, Red. 100% Barbera from the estate's best plots in Diano d'Alba and Roddi, aged 13 months in a large French oak barrel; made only in the finest vintages as the Superiore bottling.
  • Dolcetto di Diano d'Alba: Dolcetto di Diano d'Alba DOCG, Dolcetto 100%, Red. The estate's entry-level Dolcetto, 100% Dolcetto blended from vineyards on both slopes of Diano d'Alba, briefly macerated and aged in steel before bottling in spring.
  • FAMA: Langhe Favorita DOC, Favorita 100%, White. 100% Favorita from a single parcel in Diano d'Alba, cold-macerated on the skins for three days and aged a year on the lees, FAMA is the estate's more structured expression of the variety.
  • Garabei: Dolcetto di Diano d'Alba Superiore DOCG, Dolcetto 100%, Red. 100% Dolcetto from Garabei, the estate's oldest parcel, planted the year the estate was founded in 1968; the most structured and age-worthy of the Abrigo Dolcetti.
  • Inverno: Piemonte Bianco Passito DOC, Favorita 100%, Sweet. 100% Favorita left to wither partially on the vine and then further dried in crates before pressing; made only in exceptional vintages, so far 2007, 2013 and 2016.
  • Langhe Favorita: Langhe Favorita DOC, Favorita 100%, White. 100% Favorita, a native Piemonte white that Giorgio Abrigo began growing in 1990; fermented in pressurised tank at low temperature to keep its natural spritz, then briefly aged on the lees.
  • Marminela: Barbera d'Alba DOC, Barbera 100%, Red. 100% Barbera blended from Diano d'Alba and Grinzane Cavour vineyards, fermented in steel and matured in concrete before bottling.
  • Nebbiolo d'Alba: Nebbiolo d'Alba DOC, Nebbiolo 100%, Red. 100% Nebbiolo from vineyards around Diano d'Alba, aged about a year in oak casks and tonneaux before an extended spell in bottle.
  • Ravera: Barolo DOCG, Nebbiolo 100%, Red. A single-vineyard Barolo, 100% Nebbiolo from the MGA Ravera in Novello, aged 20 to 24 months in oak before further bottle ageing.
  • SàMai: Langhe Arneis DOC, Arneis 100%, White. 100% Arneis from two Diano d'Alba vineyards, cold-fermented in steel to preserve freshness; the name SaMai nods to a Piemontese dialect expression about seizing opportunity.
  • Sori dei Crava: Dolcetto di Diano d'Alba DOCG, Dolcetto 100%, Red. 100% Dolcetto from the single Sori dei Crava parcel above the farmhouse, a steep, sun-exposed hillside that gives the estate's most structured basic Dolcetto.