Founded by Tino Colla and his niece Federica in 1994, Poderi Colla (literally ‘the Colla Farms’) is made up of three distinct properties: prime holdings in both Barolo (Bussia) and Barbaresco (Roncaglia) as well as vineyards at Cascine Drago in Alba where the headquarters are located. The firms counts on the collaboration of Beppe Colla, Tino’s much older brother, and Federica’s father, a living institution in the Langhe. Tino’s son Pietro has also joined the company after completing the Scuola Enologica in Alba and Torino, and has now taken on many of the winemaking duties. Wine has been in the family DNA for generations, with the first Colla with a winemaking reputation in the Langhe hills as early as 1703. Our own times have witnessed the legendary career of Beppe Colla (born in 1930), the definitive authority on the Langhe appellations and one of the founding fathers of the Alba DOCs in the 1960s. Beppe Colla purchased Prunotto Winery in 1956 and made it one of Barolo’s great wineries. Prunotto was later sold to Antoniori in 1990. Beppe was ahead of his time when it came to highlighting the importance of the single-vineyards and in 1961 he was the first to vinify separately and bottle single-vineyard selections. Poderi Colla offers a 360-degree spectrum of Piedmont’s star red wines: all are single-varietal wines with the exception of the dolcetto-nebbiolo blend Bricco del Drago which is however as Piedmontese as it gets. the Collas avoid any harsh chemicals in the vineyards and use organic treatments and fertilizers only as needed. In the cellars, the family adheres to the Langhe traditional school of aging in large Slavonian casks and no filtration.
