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ITALY<br />
FOCUS<br />
CASCINA ‘LA ZERBA’, SET AMIDST THE ROLLING COLLI TORTONESI, WAS BOUGHT BY THE VOLPI FAMILY IN 2003 AND IS NOW THE HOME OF THE<br />
WINERY’S NEW TASTING ROOM<br />
Everything about the Tortona area in Italy’s storied Piedmont region speaks wine. Its<br />
rolling hills are clad with neat rows of vineyards that follow the lay of the land and<br />
are home to varieties that were once on the brink of extinction. Cantine Volpi has played<br />
a pivotal part in resurrecting a tradition of winegrowing that dates back to the ancient<br />
Romans, and its own history mirrors many of the milestones along Italy’s wine journey.<br />
“Cantine Volpi started in 1914 as a small winery that was complementary to a local ‘Osteria’<br />
or typical traditional restaurant. The family would produce the wine that was entirely sold<br />
in their own restaurant”, recounts Marco Volpi, who joined his father Carlo Volpi and wife<br />
Laura at the winery in 2019.<br />
INCREMENTAL PROGRESS<br />
A major turning point in the company’s history occurred in 1957 when the winery in<br />
Viguzzolo was built to produce wines from the local Tortona hills. In 1962, the most modern<br />
winery in Tortona for maturing and bottling wines broke ground, paving the way for Cantine<br />
Volpi to blaze the trail for quality by securing a controlled designation of origin or DOC for<br />
its wines in the 1970s. Fast forward to 2019 and the company invested over one million euros<br />
in a state-of-the-art winery which superseded the Viguzzolo facilities and now handles<br />
the entire production process, from fermenting the grapes to packaging the end wines.<br />
The winery is equipped to control temperatures and reduce its energy consumption whilst<br />
AUTUMN 2023 • GILBERT & GAILLARD - THE FRENCH EXPERTS ON WINE<br />
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