The famous winemakers behind Vietti start their own family winery more than a year after the sale.
On Friday morning, we receive a pleasant phone call: "We're making wine again," says a delighted Elena Penna on the other end of the receiver, "we can't live without it". Elena Penna and Luca Currado Vietti had for decades the top Barolo winery Vietti in Castiglione Falletto and led it to the top of the worlds wine scene. Then the break with the relatives, Vietti was sold to the American entrepreneurial family Krause . After continuing to run the company, which was founded at the end of the 19th century by their ancestor Carlo Vietti, until January 2023, Luca - oenologist for the last 35 vintages - and Elena - sales and marketing manager - decided to embark on their own project.
Now the couple are back in full swing: Cascina Penna-Currado is the name of the new wine-growing project. A completely new family project, in which their children Giulia and Michele will actively contribute to writing the new pages of the family history of viticulture. Cascina Penna-Currado is located at the entrance to the municipality of Serralunga d'Alba, a unique place with a 360-degree view of the municipalities of the Barolo area. Cited in various publications as a "historic farm", first under the name of Santa Giulia and later as Cascina Lazzarito, the farm was built in 1554 and belonged first to the Marquis Falletti and then to Opera Pia (charitable foundation), which used the estate for the wine production of the lands of Serralunga d'Alba. The estate is located on the top cru of the same name, "Lazzarito", which takes its name from a former military hospital located there. With an area of 2,400 square meters, the Cascina has undergone a gentle renovation to restore the old origins of the farm as a winery. Not an easy undertaking in the protected UNESCO area. The estate also includes a few hectares in Tortona, where the white Derthona from Timorasso is grown.
In addition to Cascina Penna-Currado, Elena and Luca also founded Elena Spirits a few years ago, a small family project dedicated to the limited production of vermouth and distillates from the Langhe.
