Giacomo Vico Langhe Favorita 2010

Our cellars date back to as far as the end of the 19th century, when – probably around 1890, although there are no official documents testifying to the exact year – our great grandfather, “Giacomo Vico”, started producing and selling wine under his own name.

Giacomo began making all the wines grown in the Roero and Langhe areas, selling them mainly in 300 and 500 lt barrels with a metal nameplate identifying the winery. Demijohns (54 lt. glass containers) were then introduced, and later still the wines were finally bottled for sale. We still have many old labels for Barolo, Barbaresco, Nebiolo, Barbera, Freisa, Bonarda, Grignolino, Brachetto. Inside the winery archives we found the witnesses of our importers Bergamonti and Cavalchini from Argentina (who worked at the beginning of the XX century) and some of their letters. As you can see ita t the top of the page, we also found a picture taken as a symbol of the collaboration between the Giacomo Vico winery and Argentina.

Concentrating exclusively on quality rather than quantity – as is the case once again today – Giacomo was soon receiving awards in competitions both at home and abroad, including a “Gold Medal” at the International Food Fair held in Paris in 1909, and exporting as far afield as the United States and Argentina, where he created his own sales network (as is borne out by labels bearing the name of the importer there at that time). When Giacomo’s son Dario finished his studies he joined his father on a full-time basis, quickly learning all the techniques of the trade. Little-by-little, however, Dario became attracted by another passion – cars – and in the 1930s he dealt in motor sales as well as marketing wines.

In 1952 Giacomo died, and Dario closed down his father’s business to work full-time in the automobile field. The premises and equipment were rented out at different times to two companies who made wines under other names. Dario’s son, Corrado, followed in his father’s footsteps in the car dealer business until 1970 when, together with his wife Anita, he returned to Canale to set up a new venture. The smells and fragrances of the countryside and of wine began to fill their lives once again, and Anita started to appreciate wine herself and to set her heart on reviving the old family wine business.

In 1990, with her three sons now grown up, a start was made on renovating the old premises used by great-grandfather Giacomo. State-of-the-art technology was introduced into the winery alongside the wooden casks used for the ageing of the red wines, and in 1992 Anita, together with one of the sons, Alessandro, began once again to make and sell wines under the name “Giacomo Vico”. Inspired by the same spirit as the winery’s original founder in deciding to produce only products of the highest qualityusing grapes grown locally in the vineyards of the Roero,they set out on a marvellous adventure that demands professional commitment of the highest standard, but is also so tremendously rewarding.