The "Braida di Giacomo Bologna" winery is located in the municipality of Rocchetta Tànaro (province of Asti) in the Italian region of
Piedmont. It was founded by Guiseppe Bologna and is named after his nickname "Braida". In the early 1970s it was taken over by his son Giacomo Bologna (+1990). The vineyards are planted with Barbera, Brachetto, Chardonnay, Dolcetto, Pinot Nero, Riesling Renano (Rhine Riesling) and others. Today the exquisite estate is run in Californian style by his widow Anna and his children Guiseppe "Bepe" and Raffaela. During a stay in California in the 1970s, Giacomo Bologna was confronted with
barrique ageing by the famous oenologist André
Tchelistcheff (1901-1994) and became a fan of French style wines. He became a pioneer of Italian viticulture and created a new style of long-lasting, highly concentrated red wines.
The first wine matured in barriques was the red wine
Barbera d'Asti (then DOC, now DOCG), created at the beginning of the 1980s, called "Bricco del'Uccellone", made from very old Barbera vines and aged for 12 months in oak barrels. It owes its name to an old lady who once lived in the house next door to the estate, always dressed in black. She had the nickname "l'uselun" (engl. "The big bird"). Then followed the "Bricco della Bigottà" (15 months), also made of Barbera and aged in oak barrels, and "Ai Suma" (late vintage), produced only in good years. All these wines mature in the bottle for up to 12 months before being marketed. Two cuvées, also aged in barriques, are "Il Baciale", made from the Barbera and Pinot Nero varieties, and "Il Fiore", made from the Chardonnay and Riesling varieties from the "Fiori Serra" vineyard purchased in 1988. The Barbera "La Monella" matured in classical style exists already since 1961 and the DOCG wine
Brachetto d'Acqui is also produced.
