Prunotto

The Cantina Sociale "Ai Vini delle Langhe", a winemaking cooperative, was incorporated in 1904 in the city council room of Serralunga's Town Hall, with notary Giacomo Oddero presiding and a young Alfredo Prunotto as a witness. Its first harvest took place in 1905. When the cooperative's by-laws came up for renewal in 1922, many members stopped delivering their grapes, and the winery was put into liquidation. Alfredo Prunotto and his wife Luigina took over the cooperative in the 1920s and gave it their name, and the winery began exporting Barolo and Barbaresco, first to South America and then to the United States. In 1956 Alfredo Prunotto retired and sold the company to wine technician Beppe Colla, who was assisted by Carlo Filiberti and later by his brother Tino Colla. In 1972 a new winery was designed by architect Ugo della Piana; it was built near Alba. The Antinori family became involved in 1989, first handling distribution, and in 1994, when the Colla brothers retired, took over production. A new winery dedicated to vinification and ageing was built in 1999, next to the historic offices.

• 1904: cooperative incorporated; first harvest in 1905
• 1920s: Alfredo and Luigina Prunotto take over the cooperative and give it their name
• 1956: sale to Beppe Colla
• 1972: winery near Alba designed by Ugo della Piana
• 1989: the Antinori family begins handling distribution; 1994: takes over production
• 1999: new winery for vinification and ageing
• November 2022: purchase of 8.4 acres in the Cerretta MGA of Serralunga d'Alba

From 1961, Prunotto's owners began identifying specific vineyards and vinifying them separately, producing crus such as Barolo Bussia and Barbera d'Alba Pian Romualdo. The Bussia vineyard was the first to produce a cru of Barolo for Prunotto, with the 1961 vintage, and Pian Romualdo was first produced the same year from vineyards in the Monforte d'Alba area. Beppe Colla took the idea from Burgundy: where Barolo was traditionally a blend from vineyards in different locations, he made single-site wines and labelled them as such. Writing in Decanter in December 2025, Michaela Morris called the approach revolutionary, and criticised, at the time. Until 1983, the Colla family declared almost all of its single-site wines as Riserva.

• Barolo Bussia and Barbera d'Alba Pian Romualdo: first single-vineyard wines, 1961
• Bussia: the first vineyard to produce a cru of Barolo for Prunotto
• Until 1983, almost all of the Colla family's single-site wines were declared Riserva

In 1990, Albiera Antinori, Marchese Piero Antinori's eldest daughter, further defined the winery's personality by concentrating on the vineyards, the first being Bussia. She was president of Prunotto in May 2001 and, as of December 2025, president of Antinori. After 1994 the company began buying vineyards under the guidance of Renzo Cotarella, Antinori's head of winemaking as of December 2025, who was Antinori CEO in November 2022. Gianluca Torrengo has been Prunotto's oenologist since 1999.

• Albiera Antinori: concentrating on the vineyards from 1990; president of Prunotto (May 2001); president of Antinori (December 2025)
• Renzo Cotarella: Antinori CEO (November 2022); Antinori's head of winemaking (December 2025)
• Gianluca Torrengo: oenologist since 1999

Prunotto's vineyards extend over approximately 65 hectares (161 acres) in the Langhe and Monferrato and are subdivided into smaller parcels and single vineyards. In the vineyard project begun in 1990, the first was Bussia, followed by Costamiòle in Agliano for Nizza, and land in Calliano for research into varieties new to the area such as Albarossa and Syrah. As of December 2025, Prunotto had eight hectares of south- to southwest-facing plots in Bussia, within the original nucleus of the MGA. As of November 2022, estate-owned vineyards and parcels under long-term lease totalled 193 acres, including 32 acres in Barolo and 13 acres in Barbaresco. Prunotto names Bussia, Bussia Vigna Colonnello, Costamiòle, Bansella, Bric Turot, Pian Romualdo and Occhetti as its most important historical production areas.

• Bussia (Monforte d'Alba): amphitheatre-shaped vineyard on Tortonian soils of loam, sand and clay with Sant'Agata fossil marl; south to southwest exposure
• Vigna Colonnello: 4.5 hectares (11 acres) at 300 metres, south-west/west exposure, sandy clay loam soils
• Bric Turot (Barbaresco, Montaribaldi MGA): 5 hectares (12 acres) at 190 to 230 metres, southeast/southwest exposure; the name means 'summit of a small hill'
• Bansella and Costamiòle (Nizza): approximately 10 hectares (25 acres) of Barbera about 19 kilometres from Asti, on silty clay with marl known locally as "Toét"; Costamiòle comes from the oldest vines at the top of the hillside
• Bricco Colma (Monferrato): Albarossa; in 2001 Prunotto and three other Piedmont wineries signed an agreement with the regional Center for Experimental Viticulture "Tenuta La Cannona" to study the variety
• Cerretta (Serralunga d'Alba): 8.4 acres bought in November 2022, after a small production of Cerretta since 2017 through an agreement with a local grower; the first wines from the new parcels are from the 2022 harvest
• Secondine (Barbaresco): an amphitheatre of loamy soil at 170 to 245 metres at the foot of the hill of Barbaresco; Secondine was a new Prunotto Barbaresco as of December 2020

Prunotto groups its range into a single-vineyard wine, Vigna Colonnello Barolo DOCG Riserva Bussia; wines from historical areas: Barolo Bussia, Cerretta, Mosconi and Serra, Barbaresco Bric Turot and Secondine, Langhe Nebbiolo Occhetti, Barbera d'Alba Pian Romualdo, Dolcetto d'Alba Mosesco and Nizza Riserva Costamiòle; and wines from the Langhe, Monferrato and Roero: Bricco Colma (Piemonte Albarossa), Bansella (Nizza), Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera d'Alba, Dolcetto d'Alba, Fiulot (Barbera d'Asti), Arveja Langhe Arneis, Moscato d'Asti, Mompertone (Monferrato), Granadié (Langhe Rosato) and Arveja (Langhe). Two grappas, Grappa di Bussia and Grappa di Costamiòle, complete the list.

• Vigna Colonnello Barolo Riserva Bussia: 100% Nebbiolo from one hectare (2.5 acres) in the Monforte d'Alba area; the 2019 was aged 18 months in French oak, then 48 months in bottle
• Barolo Bussia: 100% Nebbiolo from the amphitheatre-shaped Bussia vineyard; the 2021 was aged at least 18 months in oak barrels of varying capacities
• Barolo: one of Prunotto's historic labels, first produced in 1905
• Barbaresco: from vineyards in Treiso and Neive, aged in large oak barrels of varying capacities
• Pian Romualdo Barbera d'Alba: 100% Barbera from Monforte d'Alba, first produced in 1961
• Costamiòle Nizza Riserva: 100% Barbera from the Agliano Terme area; the 2021 was aged approximately 12 months in new French oak barriques
• Bricco Colma: 100% Albarossa, a cross of Nebbiolo and Barbera
• Dolcetto d'Alba: 100% Dolcetto, aged in stainless steel

Prunotto frames its winemaking as a balance between tradition and innovation. For Barolo, Barbaresco and Nebbiolo, the older 100-hectolitre Slavonian oak barrels in use since the 1970s have been replaced with large Allier and Slavonian oak barrels of 27, 32, 53 and 77 hectolitres, and the old cement vats with stainless steel tanks, including lower, wider vertical fermentation tanks that give the skins greater contact with the juice. Maceration for the 2021 Barolo Bussia lasted approximately 8 to 10 days at no more than 30 °C (86 °F). Gianluca Torrengo calls Bussia's tannins "very silky almost from the beginning of the wine's life in bottle." In Decanter in December 2025, Renzo Cotarella put the aim this way: "Now we are looking to bring depth of flavour without weighing the wine down." Tasting six decades of Bussia for Decanter, Michaela Morris found the 2016, 2019 and 2021 "united by a toned, balletic frame rather than body-builder muscles."

• Large Allier and Slavonian oak barrels of 27, 32, 53 and 77 hectolitres for Barolo, Barbaresco and Nebbiolo
• Stainless steel tanks in place of the old cement vats
• Prunotto gives particular attention to promoting sustainable agriculture and improving manual techniques

The Cantina di Bussia, at Località Bussia Soprana 90 in Monforte d'Alba, offers guided tours, tastings and a wine shop by appointment. Tours last approximately one hour for up to eight guests, take in Vigna Colonnello, the Bussia amphitheatre vineyard and the winemaking and ageing cellars, and include a tasting of three or six wines.

• Guided tours require advance reservations
• Tastings include Barolo Bussia and, depending on availability, other crus

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.prunotto.it/en/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/the-history/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/vineyards/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/territory/vineyards/vigna-colonnello/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/territory/vineyards/bussia/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/territory/vineyards/bric-turot/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/territory/vineyards/bansella-costamiole/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/territory/vineyards/bricco-colma/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/vino/vigna-colonnello-barolo-docg-riserva-bussia-en/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/vino/bussia-barolo-docg-en/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/vino/barolo-docg-en/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/vino/barbaresco-docg-en/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/vino/pian-romualdo-barbera-d-alba-doc-en/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/vino/costamiole-nizza-docg-riserva-en/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/vino/bricco-colma-en/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/vino/dolcetto-d-alba-doc-en/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/visit-prunotto/, https://www.prunotto.it/en/contacts/. Secondary sources: Decanter (Michaela Morris, 19 December 2025; James Button, 26 December 2020) and Wine Spectator (Bruce Sanderson, 28 November 2022; Michèle Shah, 12 May 2001). Last verified 2026-10-19. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.