The Choice

If Cantina Giacomo Borgogno had represented for Luciano his baptism into the world of wine almost like "that first love one never forgets", his time at Marchesi di Barolo marked the period of growth and full maturity.
He remained at this historic Barolo estate for quite a long period, a full 23 years, from 1967 to 1990. He had joined at barely 21 years of age and left at a considerably more mature stage in life, when his sense of purpose was concrete and authoritative. For Luciano, Marchesi di Barolo was like a training arena, in which he grew with the right gradualness, refining his interpretive ability, accompanied by many other operators, technical and otherwise, who knew their trade and worked with passion to achieve the best results.
"In the firm – Luciano recalls – I was mainly responsible for cellar work. After a period of training and professional growth, little by little I was able to replace my mentor of those years, a certain Pinoto Scarzello who was the old cellarman and who – when I arrived at Marchesi di Barolo – had welcomed me and helped me settle in. As was the custom in those times, however, I didn't only look after the cellar. The firm was large and complex. The work sectors were many and it was essential to deal with them comprehensively. Moreover it was essential also for me to learn many things. So I devoted my time to many other activities too: at certain moments I even had to act as chauffeur for the owners, then I'd keep an eye on the vineyards and the various phases of their cultivation and this was the commitment I enjoyed and found most engaging. Especially in the early years of my time at Marchesi di Barolo, in the viticulture and oenology sector the search for synergy between vineyard and cellar was not so common. It was almost like a "Copernican revolution", but in subsequent years it would become standard practice".
Then it was Luciano's responsibility to oversee the maintenance of the entire cellar complex at Via Roma, a historic building, very prestigious, where history claimed the first Barolo had been produced in the time of the Marchesi Falletti, the original owners. Precisely because it was a historic construction it required more maintenance than the one in Via Alba, which had been built in a much more recent era.
Also prompted by Cav. Felice Scarzello, he continued to visit the vineyards and cellars of France, particularly Burgundy. Luciano was keen to see and understand how they worked in viticulture and oenology in that part of France so closely akin to the viticultural territory of the Langhe. Each time he returned, the group accompanying him grew larger. He went there several times in the Eighties with many friends such as geometra Burzio, Aldo Vacca, Roberto Vezza, Fulvio Prandi and others. His brother Luca often joined the group too. In those very years, he would have the good fortune to visit, thanks to his friend Fulvio Prandi, the Romanée Contì, and this experience galvanised him enormously.