Who I am:
something about me
and my family history
My personal bond with the land and the vine has a recent origin even if it has its roots in a family heritage of which I represent the fourth generation.
Barbero wines
The company was founded at the end of the 19th century in a small farmhouse in San Grato di Valpone - a fraction of Canale - by the hand of my great-grandfather Giorgio, whose life was dedicated to the cultivation and vinification of grapes on the slopes of the hills of San Grato and Montorino, above what would one day become Barbero S.p.a.
Difficult years, those following the First World War, nonetheless Giorgio's dream was to expand his business as a winemaker to make those wines known to people who were returning to a normal life. And to do this, there was a need for a workforce which - at the time - meant giving birth to a greater number of children, in the hope that they would be boys and able to take on the physically heavier jobs. Thus, Giorgio and his wife Virginia had eight children: five boys and three girls. Which is why they decided to come down from the hill of San Grato to build a new and larger farmhouse right where the road between Canale and Asti would have helped him to grow his businesses.
A nice story
At the beginning of the 1940s the company covered a vast sales area and my grandfather Alfredo, the youngest of eight children and now fourteen, had learned to drive a truck, in which he spent many hours delivering the product. This passion turned into work led my great-grandfather to found "Giorgio Barbero and sons".
Over time, the company expanded its wine market. Not only geographically, throughout the country, but also through the introduction of new products such as liqueurs, vermouth and sparkling wines, mostly sold on foreign markets.
Thus, in the early 90s of the last century, the "Barbero group" was born which included the Sterzi cellars of Verona, the Enrico Serafino di Canale, the production of Frangelico in Caracas and the acquisition of Barbieri, producer of Aperol. In 2003 the Barbero group was then bought by Campari SpA.
About me
And now let's talk about me. In 2013 I graduated in Economics with a financial focus. In previous years, during my studies, I worked in the summer periods in a family-run winery in Canale. So I started taking my first steps in the vineyard and in the cellar, where I had both the opportunity to learn the steps and "secrets" of winemaking as well as warehouse management, as well as getting to know the finished product. In those years - between 2010 and 2014 - I was also able to relate to customers, especially foreign ones, who came to visit the cellar and returned home satisfied for having learned about Roero wines.
Actual times
I also had the good fortune to live in close contact with my father's experience, for 35 years sales manager for Italy of the Barbero group's wine sector. It was he who passed on to me the passion for the wine world and the world of sales. which is why, in October 2015, I took over the management of a 3-hectare vineyard in the municipality of Vezza d'Alba - in the locality of Valmaggiore - exactly in the heart of Roero. After a year, I was "almost satisfied": the harvest bore good fruit and I was ready to launch my company. Since then I have bought new lands always in Roero. New vineyards have been planted while others are about to be planted shortly. The production of the first year saw four labels: Langhe Favorita, Roero Arneis, Barbera d'Alba, Langhe Nebbiolo: vinified only in steel tanks to fully preserve the native varietal scents. They were followed by Valmaggiore, Morinaldo and Valtassera, respectively a Roero Riserva, a Barbera d'Alba Superiore and a Nebbiolo d'Alba, the result of particular research and attention to detail.