The Maestro of Neive From a 15-year-old cellar hand to Piedmont’s quiet perfectionist—Bruno Giacosa’s arc, the wines, the people, the magic

1) “If it isn’t great, it isn’t bottled.”

Bruno Giacosa was born in Neive in 1929 and left school at 15 to work in the family Casa Vinicola. He didn’t own grand hills yet—he selected them, scouting growers parcel by parcel and refusing anything that wasn’t immaculate. In the 1960s his precise, unshowy Barbaresco and Barolo helped reset the region’s standards. The public saw restraint; insiders saw a superpower: judgment.

2) Two labels, one philosophy

• Azienda Agricola Falletto di Bruno Giacosa — estate fruit from owned vineyards, most famously in Serralunga d’Alba.
• Casa Vinicola Bruno Giacosa — wines from long-time growers and leased parcels.
  Different sources, identical rigor. The label tells you where the grapes came from, not how seriously the wine was made.

3) The hill that changed everything

In 1982 Bruno bought Falletto in Serralunga. From this amphitheater he shaped two pillars: Barolo Falletto and the crest parcel Barolo “Le Rocche del Falletto.” When a season sings, Rocche (and sometimes Falletto) becomes Riserva—the bottles with the famous red label. Estate fruit, traditional methods, zero theatrics.

4) White label vs. red label

Think of white label as reference-point classicism; red label as the exclamation point reserved for extraordinary vintages. When a cru is declared Riserva (red), you won’t see the standard white-label of that cru in the same year. It’s a statement: all the best juice went into the red.

5) Key wines to know

• Barolo “Le Rocche del Falletto” (Azienda Agricola) — iron and roses, tar and silk; often the red-label Riserva in peak years.
• Barolo Falletto (Azienda Agricola) — broader shoulders, savory depth, classic Serralunga power without excess.
• Barbaresco Asili (Azienda Agricola) — perfume and poise; in great years, Asili Riserva (red).
• Barbaresco Rabajà (Casa Vinicola) — darker, broodier Barbaresco contours; tiny production.
• Barbaresco Santo Stefano di Neive (Casa Vinicola, historic) — the bottle that put the site on the global map in the ’60s.
• Roero Arneis — Bruno helped rescue the variety from near-extinction; today it’s a benchmark white.

6) The people behind the polish

• Bruno Giacosa (“Il Maestro”) — the selector-in-chief; he famously skipped bottling in years that didn’t meet his line in the sand.
• Bruna Giacosa — Bruno’s daughter; since the mid-2000s she has steered the estate with the same single-vineyard focus and strict sourcing.
• Dante Scaglione — longtime enologist (early ’90s onward, with a brief break); the calm translator of Bruno’s minimal-intervention thinking.
• Giorgio Lavagna — guided the cellar during Scaglione’s absence.
• Francesco Versio — part of the modern cellar team before launching his own label.

7) How the wines are made (the Giacosa way)

Nebbiolo first, everything else second: native yeast, long but balanced macerations (commonly around a month), and elevage in large Slavonian botti—no flashy new barrique perfume. Racking is gentle, sulfur is restrained, and the blend is never used to hide weaknesses. The result: line-drawn aromatics (rose, cherry skin, tar), sculpted tannins, and an aging curve measured in decades.

8) Setbacks, handoffs, continuity

A stroke in 2006 pushed Bruno to the background and brought Bruna fully forward. In 2018, Bruno passed away. The blueprint remained: farm and source with severity, elevate red labels only when the season earns it, and keep the cellar quiet enough to hear the vineyards speak.

9) Why collectors chase it

1. Selection as religion — if it isn’t great, it isn’t bottled.
2. Site clarity — Falletto and Rocche show Serralunga’s power without weight.
3. Red-label mystique — rarity with a purpose, not a marketing trick.
4. Timeproof builds — bottles that hum at 10 years and sing at 25.

10) Liber’s crib sheet—how to deploy the bottles

• Rocche del Falletto Riserva + tajarin with white truffle: granite spine meets silk.
• Asili (or Asili Riserva) solo at dusk: perfume, line, and calm—Barbaresco as whisper.
• Roero Arneis + vitello tonnato: almond-citrus snap against the sauce’s richness.

11) Final pour

Giacosa’s genius wasn’t wizardry; it was judgment. Walk the rows. Trust the growers. Wait out the noise. Bottle only the truth. That’s how a quiet cellar in Neive became shorthand for Piedmont at its peak—and why the best Giacosa bottles still feel less like trophies and more like standards we measure against.