Cantina Sociale di Vinchio Vaglio Serra e zl sca

It is surprising to think that in 1959, a small group of just 19 winegrowers from the municipalities of Vinchio and Vaglio Serra (Asti), territories that had been divided and at odds for centuries, managed to overcome all their problems and get together to build a Cooperative to process their grapes.

Vinchio Vaglio became “The Nest of Barbera”, the place where this grape expresses its varied characteristics. Barbera is a very malleable vine that, depending on vinification style and ageing, can give very fragrant young wines or long-ageing wines capable of lasting for decades.

In 1986, while many Italian wine-growing areas were replanting vineyards with new clones and tighter planting densities, Vinchio Vaglio chose instead to identify the best vineyards over 50 years old and began producing a wine called “Vigne Vecchie”. This decision proved successful over time and, in 2009, during the winery’s 50th anniversary, a second wine called “Vigne Vecchie 50” was launched from the same vineyards. The first wine is aged in oak and highlights Barbera’s longevity, complexity and structure, while the second emphasizes freshness and elegance through ageing in stainless steel and concrete tanks.

Today those vineyards are over 80 years old and require painstaking work. To ensure their preservation, the winery guarantees growers a stable income per hectare.

There is a strong link between the winegrowers and the cooperative. President Lorenzo Giordano underlines the importance of maintaining close and positive contact, since the quality of wines such as “Insynthesis”, “I Tre Vescovi”, the two “Vigne Vecchie” and the Nizza “Laudana” depends on perfect grapes arriving at the winery at the agreed time.

Nearly 500 hectares of vineyards still adorn these Monferrato hills, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The average vineyard size per grower is about 2.5 hectares, making the cooperative essential for the economic sustainability of nearly 200 growers.

Vinchio Vaglio represents an outstanding example of a cooperative winery whose importance is crucial for the survival of a territory and a grape variety.

TOGETHER TO PRESERVE THE OLD VINES

Founded in 1959, Vinchio Vaglio supports growers whose Barbera grapes were once undervalued. Without the cooperative, many vineyards might have been uprooted, threatening one of the world’s most beautiful ecosystems. Today the winery represents over 300 hectares of Barbera vineyards.

The winery joined the Old Vine Conference, a nonprofit association founded in the UK to safeguard and promote wineries cultivating old vineyards. These vineyards, often 50 to 100 years old, require enormous effort, especially in the steep hills of Monferrato where mechanization is nearly impossible. However, they produce grapes of exceptional quality.

Two wines are dedicated to these vineyards: Vigne Vecchie Barbera d’Asti Superiore DOCG and Vigne Vecchie 50 Barbera d’Asti DOCG. The first was created in 1987, when many others were uprooting old vines. The second was introduced in 2009 to celebrate the winery’s anniversary, without oak ageing to enhance primary aromas.

EQUALITAS CERTIFICATION

Vinchio Vaglio obtained the Equalitas certification, awarded by Valoritalia, authorized by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture to certify DOC and DOCG wines.

The Equalitas programme addresses sustainability on environmental, economic and social levels, aligned with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations in 2015. The winery implements multiple sustainability projects covering agronomic practices, oenological processes, landscape preservation, and social responsibility.

AWARDS 2025/2026

The winery has received numerous recognitions, including high scores from Doctor Wine and James Suckling, medals at the People’s Choice Drinks Awards, London Wine Competition, and International Wine & Spirit Competition, confirming the excellence of labels such as Vigne Vecchie 50, I Tre Vescovi, Laudana, Barolo DOCG, Barbaresco DOCG, and Nizza Riserva DOCG Sei Vigne Insynthesis.