5.2 The help of great vintages

As we mentioned earlier, the conclusion of the Nineties decade of the twentieth century coincided with three wine vintages of spectacular value and quality: **1988**, **1989** and **1990**. The wines of these three harvests – **Barolo** and **Barbaresco** in particular – **were decisive for the definitive establishment of the Langa and Roero territories** on the national and international markets and in the collective imagination of consumers worldwide, who have always been used to thinking that great wine is one that can withstand time.
Gradually, Luciano and the other producers in the group realized that the time was ripe for Barolo and Barbaresco to make their definitive leap of identity in the hearts and minds of world consumers who were **looking for products of quality and certain origin**.
Therefore, on the wave of the value of those three vintages, foreign consumers began to arrive in the Langa hills, first of all German-speakers, the closest and also the most attentive and sensitive. And then, little by little, all the others.
It was quickly realized that - compared to the Italians, who were not yet ready to understand the greatness of these wines, perhaps curious and inclined to learn but not always willing to invest the necessary money in wine - **foreign consumers came to the cellar hungry for knowledge**, eager to meet us and learn how and where Barolo and Barbaresco were born. They spent a lot of time in the various cellars, documenting themselves carefully, asking many questions. In short, they wanted to know, know, know. And then, they left satisfied with their **cars loaded with bottles**. This was also because in their countries the wines had much higher prices than they cost at the producer's.
“So,” – Luciano recalls with some emotion – “we spent many weekends in the cellar, busy receiving these visitors, complying with their requests. It was a commitment, sometimes even burdensome, but it was worth it. And then, little by little, the results arrived, and not just economic ones.”
As Roberto Spera, a journalist and food and wine expert and friend of Luciano, wrote in his 2010 book entitled “Vini in Langa”, in those years “the world of the Langa was changing” and “the outside world was coming to see what was changing”.