E. Pira & Figli (Chiara Boschis)

The Pira family were grape growers recorded in parish registers from the 17th century, and they also became winemakers between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Gigi Pira made his wines by blending grapes from his own plots in Cannubi, San Lorenzo and Via Nuova, and he was the last winemaker still treading grapes by foot and producing without any technical equipment. From 1980 the estate's continuity was ensured by Chiara Boschis and her parents, Franco and Ida, who were linked to the Piras by deep friendship and mutual esteem and who represent a family of Barolo producers dating from the 1700s, now in its ninth generation. After graduating, Chiara pursued wine full time and became one of the first women producers of Barolo from the late 1980s, bringing renewal to the cellar and the production style. Since 2010 her brother Giorgio, who also brings thirty years of experience, has joined her in the ownership of the estate.

• Pira family recorded as grape growers in parish registers from the 17th century
• Gigi Pira blended grapes from his own plots in Cannubi, San Lorenzo and Via Nuova
• From 1980: continuity ensured by Chiara Boschis and her parents, Franco and Ida
• Since 2010: Giorgio Boschis joined his sister in the ownership

Chiara Boschis and her brother Giorgio share the ownership of the estate, and Giorgio shares her passion for the work in the vineyard and the cellar. In August 2019 Chiara Boschis was running E. Pira & Figli with her brother Giorgio.

• Chiara Boschis: running the estate with her brother Giorgio (August 2019)
• Giorgio Boschis: in the ownership since 2010, with thirty years of experience

The estate vinifies only grapes from vineyards it farms itself, almost all of them its own property: about 11 hectares, with 2 hectares in the commune of Barolo (Cannubi, Liste and Terlo), 8 hectares in Monforte d'Alba (Conterni, Mosconi, Ravera and Le Coste) and 1 hectare in Serralunga d'Alba (Gabutti and Baudana). Cannubi, Liste and Terlo lie between 300 and 330 metres; Mosconi, Le Coste and Ravera between 340 and 420 metres; and Gabutti and Baudana at 260 and 400 metres respectively. The Cannubi vineyard faces south, on soils that mix Tortonian and Helvetian origins with a substantial share of sand. Mosconi, in Monforte d'Alba, is on older Helvetian calcareous-clay marls alternating with siliceous sandstone, with calcium carbonate and iron in places. Vineyard work is entirely by hand and follows organic practice, certified from the 2014 harvest: short winter pruning to a single fruiting cane of at most 9 buds, removal of excess shoots, two or three rounds of bunch thinning after fruit set, and a manual harvest with strict sorting at full phenolic ripeness.

• Barolo commune: 2 ha in Cannubi, Liste and Terlo, at 300 to 330 m
• Monforte d'Alba: 8 ha in Conterni, Mosconi, Ravera and Le Coste
• Serralunga d'Alba: 1 ha in Gabutti (260 m) and Baudana (400 m)
• Organic certification from the 2014 harvest

Cannubi's name first appeared on a wine label in 1752. The hill is a long tongue of land running along the town of Barolo at 250 to 320 metres, divided from north to south into Cannubi Boschis, Cannubi, Cannubi Valletta, Cannubi San Lorenzo and Cannubi Muscatel, and the central Cannubi sub-zone, where Chiara Boschis makes her Cannubi, is much sandier than Cannubi Boschis or Cannubi Muscatel. Chiara Boschis united 26 producers across the Cannubi hill to create a bio-district, and as of 2015, 80% of the vineyards were farmed organically. Her Cannubi Bio project, as of December 2019, involved convincing all but one vineyard owner on the hill to convert to organic viticulture.

• Cannubi named on a wine label in 1752
• Sub-zones, north to south: Cannubi Boschis, Cannubi, Cannubi Valletta, Cannubi San Lorenzo, Cannubi Muscatel
• Bio-district: 26 producers united by Chiara Boschis across the hill

The estate describes its approach as a balance between innovation and tradition, meant to give elegance and balance to a wine that is traditionally structured and austere. Grapes are crushed and destemmed and fermented on the skins in automatic fermenters at a controlled temperature of about 28 degrees, with daily punch-downs and pump-overs throughout fermentation, followed by malolactic fermentation. Cannubi and Mosconi are vinified separately, vineyard by vineyard. The Barolos mature for about two years in lightly toasted 225-litre French oak barriques and in large oak casks of 2,000 and 2,500 litres, then rest about a year in bottle before release. The Langhe Nebbiolo and the Barbera mature in second-use barriques and the Dolcetto in steel tanks. The wines are bottled without filtration or fining, apart from a light filtration for the Dolcetto, which is bottled young.

• Fermentation in automatic fermenters at about 28 degrees, with daily punch-downs and pump-overs
• Barolo: about 2 years in 225-litre French barriques and 2,000 and 2,500-litre casks, then about 1 year in bottle
• Langhe Nebbiolo and Barbera: second-use barriques; Dolcetto: steel
• No filtration or fining, except a light filtration for the Dolcetto

The range comprises three Barolos (Cannubi, Mosconi and Via Nuova), a Langhe Nebbiolo, a Barbera d'Alba Superiore and a Dolcetto d'Alba. Barolo Cannubi comes from Nebbiolo of the Michet and Lampia sub-varieties grown in the estate's own vineyard on the Cannubi hill, and is aged at least two years in oak and about a year in bottle. Barolo Mosconi is vinified from the oldest vineyard of the estate's Mosconi property in Monforte d'Alba, on soils at about 400 metres. Via Nuova was once a small vineyard beside the village of Barolo, named for its nearness to the road, new in the last century, that linked Barolo to Novello. When the commune of Barolo, reorganising the additional geographic mentions that came into force in 2010, absorbed it into the larger Terlo, the estate began making Barolo Via Nuova from the grapes of Terlo and Liste in Barolo, Gabutti and Baudana in Serralunga d'Alba, and Ravera and Mosconi in Monforte d'Alba. The Langhe Nebbiolo comes from a dedicated vineyard and from buffer rows bordering other producers' non-organic vineyards.

• Barolo Cannubi
• Barolo Mosconi
• Barolo Via Nuova
• Langhe Nebbiolo
• Barbera d'Alba Superiore
• Dolcetto d'Alba

In a 2019 Decanter guide to Barolo, Michael Garner listed E Pira & Figli among the Barolo producers you can rely on.

Primary sources (producer's own site): http://www.pira-chiaraboschis.com/Storia.html, http://www.pira-chiaraboschis.com/Cantina.html, http://www.pira-chiaraboschis.com/Vigne.html, http://www.pira-chiaraboschis.com/Barolo_Cannubi.html, http://www.pira-chiaraboschis.com/Barolo_Mosconi.html, http://www.pira-chiaraboschis.com/Barolo_ViaNuova.html, http://www.pira-chiaraboschis.com/Barbera_Alba.html, http://www.pira-chiaraboschis.com/Langhe_Nebbiolo.html, http://www.pira-chiaraboschis.com/DolcettoAlba.html. Secondary sources: Wine Spectator (Robert Camuto, 18 December 2019), https://www.winespectator.com/articles/barolo-rebel-chiara-boschis-takes-on-cheese; Decanter (Michael Garner, last updated 8 August 2019), https://www.decanter.com/features/barolo-s-golden-age-245580/; Decanter (Ian D'Agata, last updated 12 August 2019), https://www.decanter.com/premium/best-italian-vineyards-398786/. Last verified 2026-10-20. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.