History – Abrigo Fratelli

OUR HISTORY

Since 1935- A family business

The story of the Abrigo family does not begin in the Cascina dei Berfi, today the home of the farm run by Ernesto Abrigo and his sister Mariarita.
On this sheltered hillside that gently stretches out to seek the sun, the Abrigo family only arrived in 1935 coming from Treiso. The reality of the Langhe was poor. Every morning, the farmer cultivated wheat, maize and hay for the animals in the stable. The land dedicated to vines was limited: the priority was to fill the barns to get through the winter. As time went by, viticulture gradually became predominant, especially from the 1960s onwards with the birth of designations of origin. It was during this decade that the winery passed into the hands of Aldo, Ernesto’s father, and his brother Franco, who ran the company together.

In a short time, it became clear that the soils of the Langa were suited to the production of great wines. Thus came the 1970s, in which Ernesto attended the Oenological School of Alba, graduating in 1976. Putting his studies to good use, in the following years he started the production of his first bottles under the brand name ‘Abrigo Fratelli’.
The family focused on a popular grape variety much loved by the Piedmontese: Dolcetto, which gives surprising results on the Diano hills. Over the years, production expanded, and Dolcetto was joined by Barbera, Chardonnay, Nebbiolo, Arneis and Favorita. With the advent of the new millennium, a long period of experimentation began with the production of the first Alta Langa DOCG Metodo Classico. The year 2013 was an important one for the company, because, in addition to it, the best-known Piedmontese wine was vinified for the first time: Barolo DOCG, harvested in the Ravera cru. Today, the company is continuously expanding and the annual production is around 45,000 bottles.
The management remains family-run to this day: Ernesto is joined by his sister Mariarita and son Walter .
The company’s workforce is made up of employees who have been trained over the years to better integrate them into the philosophy of a family-run business. In recent years, the company has seen a profound renovation necessary to unite tradition with the innovation of modern times, with new winemaking techniques flanked by more attractive packaging: the Albeisa bottle, which completes the idea of typicality, and the new brand, which best sums up this change.

TODAY