Pio Cesare

Pio Cesare was founded in 1881 by Cesare Pio, Cesare being his first name and Pio his surname. A successful entrepreneur, he began by producing a small and select quantity of wines from the hills of Barolo and Barbaresco for his family and friends, and in the early 20th century he travelled throughout Europe to promote the family's philosophy and the region; an authentic copy of his passport, number 55, is displayed at the cellar. His son Giuseppe Pio, the second generation, inherited the winery at the turn of the century and invested in the growth of the cellar and its commercial reach. In 1940 Rosy, the only daughter of Giuseppe Pio, married Giuseppe Boffa, an engineer from Alba who soon left his profession to dedicate himself to Pio Cesare. Their youngest son, Pio Boffa (d. 2021), named Pio in honor of his great-grandfather's surname, represented the fourth generation. Under his leadership Pio Cesare became an estate producer, growing family-owned vineyards only, the winery was expanded and new wines were introduced. After 2021 the fifth generation took over the winery: his daughter Federica and his nephew Cesare, with the support of their cousin Augusto.

• 1881: founded in Alba by Cesare Pio
• Second generation: Giuseppe Pio
• Third generation: Rosy Pio and Giuseppe Boffa, married in 1940
• Fourth generation: Pio Boffa (d. 2021)
• Fifth generation: Federica and Cesare, with the support of Augusto

The fifth generation guides and manages Pio Cesare. Pio Boffa's nephew Cesare Benvenuto was already helping to run the winery in 2020, alongside Pio Boffa and, since 2016, Federica. Federica Boffa Pio took over the management of the winery in 2021, having just completed her degree in economics at the University of Turin. In a September 2024 interview she explained that her cousins Cesare and Augusto support her, that the family has no export manager or technical director and discusses everything together, and that the final decisions are hers. The family exports its wines to more than 50 countries.

• Federica Boffa Pio: took over the management of the winery in 2021
• Cesare Benvenuto: Pio Boffa's nephew, fifth generation
• Augusto: cousin, in support
• Exports to more than 50 countries

The cellar is in the heart of Alba and was built on the ancient Roman walls of the original Roman town, Alba Pompeia. It twists through four underground levels, where all the wines are made at constant, natural temperatures and humidity, and it has been renovated and expanded over the years, most recently still within the historic center. In 2020 Pio Cesare was the one winery located in the town of Alba itself. The estate presents itself as the sole producer authorized to use the crest of Alba on its labels.

• Built on the Roman walls of Alba Pompeia
• Four underground levels
• In 2020, the one winery located in the town of Alba

The family owns about 80 hectares of vineyards in several villages of the Barolo and Barbaresco areas and the Langhe appellation, and more recently also in Alta Langa and the Colli Tortonesi; most of the sites appear on the MGA (Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive) classification list. In the Barolo region it owns about 30 hectares: Ornato, Briccolina, Serra, Lirano and Colombaro in Serralunga d'Alba, Mosconi in Monforte d'Alba, Ravera in Novello, Roncaglie in La Morra, and Gustava and Garretti in Grinzane Cavour. Serralunga d'Alba was the first village in the Barolo region where the family acquired vineyards; the family's Ornato vineyard there is a large amphitheater at about 370 meters on mainly limestone and clay. In December 2014 Pio Boffa acquired 9.7 hectares in the Mosconi cru in Monforte d'Alba, where the family grows very old Nebbiolo vines. In the Barbaresco region the family owns about 25 hectares: Bricco di Treiso, San Stunet, Bongiovanni and Rombone in Treiso, and Rocche Massalupo at San Rocco Seno d'Elvio, in the commune of Alba. Treiso is the village where the family started acquiring vineyards in 1974, and the family's Bricco di Treiso vineyard lies at about 410 meters. About 25 more hectares lie in Cissone, Monforte d'Alba, Sinio, Diano d'Alba, Trezzo Tinella, Tortona and Gavi. In 2018 the family bought land in the Colli Tortonesi and planted Timorasso there, at Vho in Tortona. In the September 2024 interview, Federica Boffa Pio explained that the family had bought eight hectares in Alta Langa, at about 580 meters, about five years earlier to experiment with Nebbiolo in cooler terroir; those grapes currently go into the Langhe Nebbiolo.

• About 80 ha in total
• Barolo region, about 30 ha: Ornato, Briccolina, Serra, Lirano, Colombaro (Serralunga d'Alba), Mosconi (Monforte d'Alba), Ravera (Novello), Roncaglie (La Morra), Gustava and Garretti (Grinzane Cavour)
• Barbaresco region, about 25 ha: Bricco di Treiso, San Stunet, Bongiovanni and Rombone (Treiso), Rocche Massalupo (Alba)
• Other areas, about 25 ha: Cissone, Monforte d'Alba, Sinio, Diano d'Alba, Trezzo Tinella, Tortona, Gavi
• Mosconi: 9.7 ha acquired in December 2014

Pio Cesare applies an integrated viticulture approach that, by its own account, is recognized with SQNPI certification (Sistema di Qualità Nazionale Produzione Integrata). It avoids chemical products in the fertilization of its soils, in canopy management and in plant protection, enriching the soil through green manure, controlling grass by mechanical weeding and using integrated pest management. Yields are kept low through severe green harvesting and canopy management, plants and flowers are grown between the rows, and weather stations monitor the vineyards. The same team works the vineyards throughout the vegetative cycle, from pruning to harvest.

• Integrated viticulture, SQNPI certification (estate's account)
• Green manure, mechanical weeding, integrated pest management
• Low yields through green harvesting
• Weather stations in the vineyards

Barolo Pio blends Nebbiolo from nine vineyards across Serralunga d'Alba, Monforte d'Alba, Novello, La Morra and Grinzane Cavour, and Barbaresco Pio blends Nebbiolo from four vineyards in Treiso and Alba. Both are fermented with long maceration on the skins in stainless steel tanks, blended, and aged in big barrels of French and Eastern European oak for nearly 24 months, with a small amount in French oak barriques, followed by long bottle ageing before release. The single-vineyard Barolos and Barbaresco follow the same fermentation and ageing. Barbera d'Alba and the Barbera d'Alba Superiore Fides spend nearly 12 months in big barrels, and Langhe Nebbiolo nearly 18 months.

• Long skin maceration in stainless steel
• Nearly 24 months in big French and Eastern European oak barrels, a small amount in French barriques (Barolo and Barbaresco)
• Long bottle ageing before release

Barolo Ornato, the very first single-vineyard wine produced by the family, comes from micro-plots in the Ornato MGA in Serralunga d'Alba and was first released with the 1985 vintage. Barbaresco Il Bricco comes from micro-plots in the most elevated portion of Bricco di Treiso and was first produced with the 1990 vintage. Barolo Mosconi, from the Mosconi vines, was presented for the first time with the 2015 vintage, 30 years after Ornato's first release. Barbera d'Alba Superiore Fides Vigna Mosconi comes mainly from the oldest vines in Mosconi and has been made since 1996. Among the whites, Piodilei Langhe Chardonnay was officially presented with the 1985 vintage and rests for nearly 10 months in French oak barriques with very limited use of new oak; L'Altro, from Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc, has been made since the 1990 harvest as a younger and more immediate version of Piodilei; and Derthona, a Colli Tortonesi Timorasso Riserva from Vho in Tortona, was released for the first time with the 2023 vintage. The range also includes Langhe Nebbiolo, Barbera d'Alba, Dolcetto d'Alba, Gavi, Moscato d'Asti, Blanc Langhe Sauvignon, Il Nebbio, Oltre, Rosy Langhe Rosato, Vermouth di Torino and a Barolo Chinato made with Barolo Pio.

• Classics: Barolo Pio, Barbaresco Pio, Langhe Nebbiolo, Barbera d'Alba, Dolcetto d'Alba, Gavi, Moscato d'Asti
• Single vineyards: Barolo Mosconi, Barolo Ornato, Barbaresco Il Bricco, Barbera d'Alba Superiore Fides Vigna Mosconi
• Signature whites: Piodilei Langhe Chardonnay, Blanc Langhe Sauvignon, Derthona Colli Tortonesi Timorasso Riserva
• Discoveries: Il Nebbio, Oltre, L'Altro Langhe Chardonnay, Rosy Langhe Rosato
• Revival: Vermouth di Torino, Barolo Chinato

By the estate's own account, its classics are built around tradition, with Barolo Pio and Barbaresco Pio as faithful expressions of their regions through a blend of vineyards; it holds that blending different terroirs was the most classic method of producing Barolo and Barbaresco in the late 19th century and remains its philosophy. Its notes for the Barolo Pio open: 'This is not a “regular” Barolo!' Alongside the blends, the single-vineyard wines are made in very limited quantities to show the voice of individual sites. In the September 2024 interview Federica Boffa Pio explained that for several years the family has shortened the wood ageing of its red wines and given them more bottle ageing instead, mainly because of climate change. Decanter's Stephen Brook wrote in 2020 that 'Pio Boffa regards himself as a traditionalist, but he is a flexible one.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.piocesare.it/en/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/history/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/people/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/the-cellar/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-vineyards/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-vineyards/barolo-region/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-vineyards/barbaresco-region/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-vineyards/other-vineyards/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/philosophy/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/classics/barolo-pio/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/classics/barbaresco-pio/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/classics/barbera-dalba/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/classics/langhe-nebbiolo/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/single-vineyards-en/barolo-ornato/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/single-vineyards-en/barolo-mosconi/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/single-vineyards-en/barbaresco-il-bricco/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/single-vineyards-en/barbera-dalba-superiore-fides/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/discoveries/laltro-langhe-chardonnay/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/signature-whites/piodilei/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/signature-whites/colli-tortonesi-timorasso-riserva-doc/, https://www.piocesare.it/en/our-wines/revival-en/barolo-chinato/. Secondary sources: Decanter (Stephen Brook, last updated 27 May 2020), https://www.decanter.com/premium/tasting-the-single-vineyard-wines-of-pio-cesare-437196/; Decanter (James Button, last updated 22 January 2020), https://www.decanter.com/premium/pio-cesare-classic-wines-from-piedmont-413942/; wein.plus (Raffaella Usai, 23 September 2024), https://magazine.wein.plus/i-hope-my-generation-tackles-the-problems-federica-boffa-pio-of-pio-cesare-on-the-future-of-barolo. Last verified 2026-10-21. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.