Bruno Giacosa

Bruno Giacosa's cellars are in Nieve and he has just over 17 hectares of vines in Barbaresco and Barolo. He also buys in grapes from growers that he has dealt with for over 30 years and trusts completely.

New techniques in the vineyards have ensured that the Nebbiolo grapes are now picked slightly earlier than before and at optimum ripeness. Maceration times have been reduced from around 50 days to nearer 30, as a consequence of having physiologically ripe fruit from the vineyards. Not for Giacosa the fashionable new French 225-litre barriques - all his wine is aged in large 5,000 litre botti, though these are now French rather than Slovenian.

His wines are marvellously perfumed on the nose and meaty and full-bodied on the palate. They have a suppleness and elegance that few wines in the region can match.