Pira was an ancient family of viticulturists, mentioned in the parish registers since the XVII century, who also became winemakers between the end of the XIX century and the beginning of the XX century. Gigi Pira, legendary exponent of the “old school” of winemaking, created his wines by blending the grapes coming from his vineyards in Cannubi, San Lorenzo and Via Nuova.
Gigi believed that, just like cows must graze in the best pastures in order to produce an excellent milk, only the best vineyards should be chosen to produce great wines. But Pira’s attachment to tradition did not stop there: he was, in fact, the last remaining winemaker to crush the grapes by foot and he used to follow the whole production without the support of any technical means. Since 1980 the continuity has been guaranteed by Chiara Boschis and her parents Franco and Ida, already linked to the Pira family by deep friendship and mutual esteem and claiming a long history of Barolo producers since the XVIII century, now in its ninth generation.
Chiara, after graduating from university, started to follow her passion for wine and for its world full-time, becoming, since the end of the 1980’s, one of the first women to run a winery in Barolo and paving the way to a new generation of energetic and ambitious women producers.
Taking care of this “little big house” she brought a breath of fresh air in the cellar and in the production style. Since 2010, Chiara was joined in the ownership of the winery by her brother Giorgio, who shares with her the great passion for the work in the vineyard and in the cellar, and who as well has been working in the field for more than thirty years. The work in the vineyards, strictly manual, is done with extreme care and respect for the environment, following the dictates of Organic farming, being the company certified since the 2014 harvest. The production is very limited (about 40,000 bottles per year), coming from grapes of direct production.
WINE CELLAR
The winery is located in the historic city-centre of Barolo and the cellar overlooks the square where Via Monforte and Via Vittorio Veneto (the so-called Via Nuova) intersect. From here, by looking at the hills, it is possible to imagine how much work is needed to keep such steep lands and well-kept gardens and to obtain from their generosity these grapes of incomparable quality. Only grapes coming from vineyards cultivated by the and almost entirely owned by the winery are vinified. About 11 hectares (12 acres), located among the best areas of Barolo wine production: 2 hectares (12 acres) in the commune of Barolo in Cannubi, Liste and Terlo; 8 hectares (12 acres) in the commune of Monforte d’Alba, in Conterni, Mosconi, Ravera and Le Coste and 1 hectare (1.5 acres) in the commune of Serralunga d’Alba, in Gabutti and Baudana. In terms of production, a choice of balance between innovation and tradition has been made, in order to give elegance and balance to a traditionally structured and austere wine. For Cannubi and Mosconi the choice was to vinify the grapes coming from each vineyard separately, in order to emphasize and exalt the specific organoleptic characteristics. As a tribute to tradition, Barolo “Via Nuova” is obtained by blending grapes from 6 vineyards: 2 from the municipality of Barolo, 2 from the municipality of Monforte and 2 from the municipality of Serralunga.
