Bruno Giacosa

Described as the “Genius of Neive”, Bruno Giacosa is an Italian wine producer, known for their Barbarescos and Barolos, from the village Neive in the Langhe region (Piemonte).

Having left school during World War II, Bruno Giacosa entered the family business in 1944, at the tender age of 15. His father Mario, and grandfather Carlo had started the business by producing wine from fruit purchased from other vineyards. Bruno continued this tradition and began to learn their craft.

Making wine only from purchased fruit from select vineyards, the young Giacosa worked tirelessly to obtain what he deemed the best grapes available from an established network of growers dedicated to producing quality. During the 1960s, Giacosa was considered one of the three significant producers of Barbaresco, along with Gaja and Produttori del Barbaresco.

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 Santa Stefano vineyard in Neive; it was the very first single vineyard bottling to be labeled as such in all of Piemonte. Importantly, to this day, Bruno Giacosa cites this wine as his single favorite wine of his entire 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 expand his operation, buying up pracels in the highly-regarded Asili and Rabaja vineyards in Barbaresco, considered the finest in the village of Barbaresco.

Over decades, Giacosa’s reputation for perfectionism continued to grow, and the wines are considered stylistically consistent and painstakingly crafted. Famously, Giacosa will not bottle any wine if the vintage does not meet his quality standards, and the vintage will be sold off in bulk as sfuso. As a testament to his commitment, the winery in 2013 decided that it will not be bottling its 2010 vintage.

Bruno Giacosa suffered a stroke in 2006 which left him unable to work at the winery during the recovery. Giacosa’s daughter, Bruna Giacosa has since gradually taken the leadership of the firm, with the same commitment to perfection and excellence.