This company has documentation going back to 1830, showing that Giovanni Battista Oddero was making wine from his own grapes alongside other activities. The farm included breeding silkworms for the then-important silk industry in nearby Cherasco and Bra. The company grew in the next generations, with significant vineyards being acquired by the fourth generation, brothers Luigi and Giacomo Oddero. Luigi was active in the vineyard and cellar, and Giacomo was more engaged in making important contributions to the village of La Morra and the Langhe region. He was, among other roles, Mayor of La Morra, heavily involved in the drawing up of the regulations for Barolo and Barbaresco when they became DOCs and later DOCGs and the first president of the Alba truffle fair. However, his most important contribution to the Langhe was the twenty years of negotiation at local, provincial and national level to ensure a regular supply water to the region. Without water, the livelihoods and businesses of the area could not have moved forward.
The great vineyards acquired were partly paid for by the thriving pharmacy business owned and run by Carla Scanavino, Giacomo’s wife, and Giacomo. She was the driving force in the pharmacy. As a result, the family added a remarkable range of plots to those already acquired in La Morra in the nineteenth century. The ones remaining in this company are:
- Around the farm and higher in the commune of La Morra, including in Bricco Chiesa, Galina, Roggeri and Capalot (1950s)
- Roche di Castiglione, commune of Castiglione Falletto (1969)
- Brunate, commune of La Morra (1968)
- Vignarionda, Serralunga d’Alba (1982)
- Bussia Vigna Mondoca, commune of Monforte d’Alba (1985)
- Villero and Fiasco, commune of Castiglione Falletto (1989) bought from Professor Ferdinando Vignolo Lutati, who in the late 1920s was among the first to study the soil differences and map what much later became the Barolo subzones
- Finally, and more recently, Monvigliero, commune of Verduno (2017).
Oddero also rents plots in Gallina (commune of Neive) and Montaribaldi (commune of Barbaresco) to make Barbaresco. Further afield, they produce Barbera in Nizza DOCG and Timorasso in the Colli Tortonesi. The Oddero gene clearly comes with an eye for an opportunity!
These acquisitions have greatly benefited Oddero since 2010 when the MGAs, the legally defined subzones, were officially introduced. However, until 1982, the aim was to create the finest single Barolo classico. This objective persists today, with the Barolo classico comprising not only 60 per cent of their Barolo production but also serving as the company’s standard bearer. It is crafted from a blend of fruit from La Morra, known for its cooler clay soils, more water, and southeast exposure, which impart elegance, freshness, and lifted aromatics, alongside fruit from Castiglione Falletto that contributes structure, power, and complexity.
The last twenty years have seen Oddero continue as one of the leading Barolo producers. This was no mean feat, as in 2005-06, the original 65 hectares were split between two sides of the family. (Curiously, a division of vineyards within the family had also happened exactly one hundred years earlier.) Oddero Poderi e Cantine, the historical company and the cellar became the property of Giacomo and his two daughters, Mariacristina, who heads up the company today, and Mariavittoria. The vineyards were divided between the two sides of the family. Luigi Oddero founded a winery in his own name. Today, Oddero Poderi e Cantine has 35 hectares of vineyard, including many of the historical vineyards, of which 20.5 are Nebbiolo (of which 17.5 qualify as Barolo and two as Barbaresco). There has also been considerable continuity. The chief winemaker, under Mariacristina, Luca Veglio, has been in place since 2001. There is a real sense of teamwork here, led by Mariacristina, Isabella (Mariavittoria’s daughter) and Pietro (Mariacristina’s son).
Mariacristina has taken a strongly scientific path to the winery. Her undergraduate research focused on how various types of grapevine rootstock respond to the different soils in the region, while during her Master’s degree, she studied malolactic bacteria in Barbera wines. After that, she taught soil chemistry, followed by chemistry and biology in Alba. In 2000, she left her teaching position to work full-time at the winery. The human touch is clearly evident at Oddero, always accompanied by a profound understanding of contemporary viticulture and winemaking.
The challenges in the last two decades have been multiple. The Nebbiolo vineyards were gradually converted to organic by 2018, but the intense rain of recent years has led to withdrawal from certification while working as sustainably as possible. Nets have been installed in the most hail-prone, exposed vineyards. The annual appearance of Noctua caterpillars that can eat the buds and remove an entire year’s production has been tackled partly by fitting plastic shields to stop them from climbing the vines or by the more laborious task of searching for them on Spring nights and removing them by hand.
The Barolo classico and all the subzone wines, with one exception, are made in the same way. Picked fruit is stored for one night at 10ºC, sorted manually, and destemmed with a very gentle machine that leaves a good proportion of whole berries, allowing carbonic maceration to take place to promote fruitiness. The berries are then layered with a small percentage of whole bunches (‘the sandwich method’) to add a touch of herbaceousness and complexity. The classico wine is made in stainless steel, and the subzone wines in wood. Fermentation with ambient yeast starts after four to five days, with the cap being wetted during the early and late stages of maceration on the skins to promote gentle extraction. In the middle periods, slightly longer pumpovers are carried out, and the temperature is allowed to rise to 25–27ºC. Post-fermentation maceration usually lasts for just three to seven days, again in line with the delicate approach. After racking, the wine goes through malolactic fermentation.
For the Villero wine, the maceration period is extended. The wine is held under submerged cap for two months. A hot site, if tempered by cool clay soil, means that the vines produce more tannins to protect themselves. As a result, the final wine shows the ripeness achieved in this vineyard (ripe red fruit, spice, chocolate notes) plus deep, smooth tannins, which are increased by the maceration under submerged cap. This varied approach to winemaking shows how Oddero seeks to maximise the different expressions of its Barolo wines.
Great care is taken with the choice of oak, matching it to the fruit of individual vineyards. Thus, for the first year of ageing, French oak is used for the tanks from Capalot and Bricco Chiesa, and the more austere Austrian oak for wine from Fiasco. Barolo classico is aged in casks up to 100 hL in size for the second year of ageing, and the subzone wines in 22 to 65 hL casks. After around 24 months, the wine is further matured for 6–8 months in inert concrete tanks, blended and bottled, taking care to exclude oxygen.
The Oddero approach combines a commitment to expressing the diversity of its vineyard sites, high levels of professionalism at every stage of production, and substantial investment in very well-trained people and up-to-date equipment. Above all, it is committed to making the most of the precious vineyards that it knows it is so fortunate to have, thanks to the investments of earlier generations.
Wines
Oddero Barolo
Tech sheets: 2017 | 2018
Oddero Barolo Brunate
Tech sheets: 2017 | 2018
Oddero Barolo Bussia Vigna Mondoca Riserva
Tech sheets: 2013 | 2015 | 2016
Oddero Barolo Riserva Vigna Rionda
Tech sheets: 2013 | 2014 | 2015
Oddero Barolo Rocche di Castiglione
Tech sheet: 2017
Oddero Barolo Villero
Tech sheets: 2015 | 2016 | 2017