Travaglini Gattinara’s Foremost Wine Producer
Driven by a passion for exceptional nebbiolo, the Travaglini family has crafted remarkable, limited-production wines from their eponymous estate in Gattinara for five generations. The family cultivates a total of 59 hectares / 145 acres, which represents 50% of this tiny DOCG, making them the region’s foremost producer.
Tucked away in the foothills of the Monte Rosa range, the Gattinara DOCG lies within northwestern Italy’s Piedmont region. Though today recognized as the home of a beautifully complex, structured style of Italian red wine, the region has a dramatic history. The phylloxera plague, coupled with a devastating hailstorm in 1905, destroyed Gattinara’s vineyards and wine production was abandoned. Fortunately, Clemente Travaglini recognized the area’s potential and founded his winery here in the 1920s. His passion for the nebbiolo grape helped restore winemaking to Gattinara.
In 1958, Clemente’s son, Giancarlo Travaglini, inherited the family winery and put into practice what were then considered groundbreaking quality initiatives in the vineyards and cellar — including high-density planting, hand-harvesting, Guyot vine training, and aging in oak barriques. He also designed Travaglini’s signature bottle shape, which has dark-colored glass that protects the wine from damaging light and a unique curve that fits naturally into the palm of one’s hand and catches sediment during decanting. The bottle has become an icon of Travaglini Gattinara wines and the entire Gattinara region.
Today, Giancarlo’s daughter, Cinzia Travaglini, carries on the family legacy as the fourth generation to make wine in Gattinara. She runs the business alongside her husband and chief winemaker, Massimo Collauto, and their daughters, Alessia and Carolina. Remaining true to Giancarlo’s vision, they’ve continued to innovate by expanding vineyard plantings, performing terroir analyses to optimize farming practices, and modernizing the cellar. While they continue to craft beautifully structured, traditional-style Gattinara wines, they’ve also introduced fuller bodied, softer, modern-style wines to the range.
The Travaglini family’s multi-generational pioneering spirit has elevated the Gattinara wine region to the international stage. Thanks to their passionate, innovative efforts (and that iconic bottle shape), Travaglini Gattinara has become one of Italy’s most recognizable wines and the #1 selling Gattinara in the world.
Terroir
Located in northwestern Italy’s Piedmont region, the Gattinara DOCG is a small appellation that lies in the rocky foothills of the Monte Rosa range. Its continental climate — with cold winters, warm summers, and a strong diurnal temperature shift — allows grapes to ripen fully and develop flavor complexity. Ventilating winds blow down from the nearby Alps, helping to keep vines healthy and preserve freshness in the fruit.
Gattinara is one of the rockiest and richest areas of volcanic minerals and, uniquely, it is the only-known area where the nebbiolo grape grows on volcanic soils. The incredible variance in both topsoil and underground earth materials all contribute to the elegance and flavor of Gattinara wines. In 2009, the fossilized remains of a 280-million-year-old super volcano were discovered here. The lapilli (rock fragments ejected from a volcano) and volcanic remains are mainly formed by silica, iron, and magnesium, all elements which enhance minerality in wine.
Viticulture
A true pioneer of the Gattinara wine region, Giancarlo Travaglini introduced groundbreaking practices in his family’s vineyards. Under his leadership, the Travaglini estate began high-density planting. Planting a large volume of vines in one area forces the plants to compete for limited resources, leading to lower yields of more concentrated fruit. Giancarlo also implemented hand harvesting and Guyot vine training, which have become common practices in most Gattinara vineyards.
Today, the Travaglini family cultivates 59 hectares / 145 acres of vineyards. While they primarily grow the nebbiolo grape, a small portion of old vines is planted to native varieties bonarda di gattinara (also known as uva rara) and vespolina.
Travaglini Winemaking Innovations
Giancarlo Travaglini was the first Gattinara producer to experiment with barriques, and oak aging remains an important aspect of the family’s winemaking. Travaglini Gattinara wines range in style from traditional (elegant and structured, with long aging in Slavonian oak barrels and pronounced tertiary flavors) to modern (fuller bodied, with softer tannins and shorter aging in small, new barriques). Each vineyard is vinified separately to differentiate its quality and enhance its distinguishing characteristics, and all wines are bottled in the Travaglini’s uniquely curved, dark-colored bottle.
