Valter: ‘We met during secondary school on the bus, in 1984… Nadia’s father [Elvio Cogno] managed Ristorante dell’Angelo in La Morra but his dream was to make wine, and so he began a relationship with Marcarini winery, making wines until 1990, when he purchased land in Ravera, Novello. He was born in Ravera and knew this cru very well.
‘We chose to buy the property and the vineyards in Novello exclusively because of Ravera [defined since 2010 as one of Barolo’s MGA (menzione geografica aggiuntiva) delimited production zones, comparable to a climat in France]. In 1991 that was a brave choice as this area was not yet known, but had a great potential for expression.
‘Initially I worked with Elvio, in 1983-1984, before going off to the army. My mother’s side made wine in Roero so I had some experience, but I never imagined in my life that I would be a winemaker; I studied at engineering school, not winemaking school.
‘All the money that Marcarini gave Elvio when he left, we spent to restore the farm… to prepare it to vinify the first vintage there. It was a lot of hard work. The vision was exactly the same as today. What has changed is our knowledge of how to vinify Ravera – it needs not less than 10 years to understand this cru.
‘Since our Nebbiolo vineyards were located exclusively in a single menzione [MGA], we were faced with a choice: to produce a single Barolo or to diversify
