Since the much too early and sudden death of Pio Boffa in the spring of 2021, his legacy of more than 40 years of enthusiastic work has passed to his daughter Federica. Together with her cousin Cesare Benvenuto and her uncle Augusto Boffa, she now leads the fortunes of the 140-year-old winery. The triumvirate is completed by oenologist Paolo Fenocchio.
Pio Boffa has always paid great attention not only to his red flagships Barbaresco and Barolo, but also to "Piodilei", the first Chardonnay from the Langhe to be fermented and matured in wood, which now enjoys cult status.
Federica Boffa remembers: "Back then, my grandfather and my father were looking for a white wine that could keep up with Barolo and Barbaresco in terms of structure, power and, above all, ageing potential. To broaden his horizons, he decided to spend the harvest season with Robert Mondavi in Napa Valley, where he not only learned about the way wine is made and precision, but above all fell in love with the Chardonnay grape.
He returned to Piedmont and decided to start what was, at the time, a bold project: to grow a Chardonnay in the Barbaresco region, where we used to grow Nebbiolo for Barbaresco. He chose the vineyard Il Bricco di Treiso because it is very high and has a special microclimate. Il Bricco di Treiso is in fact one of the highest points in the entire Barbaresco region, at 390 metres above sea level, well ventilated and characterised by strong temperature fluctuations between day and night.
In 1981 he planted 2.5 hectares of Chardonnay there and in 1985 we released the first vintage of Piodilei, fermented in new oak barrels and aged for at least 10 months. Piodilei means "Pio for you" in Italian, so Pio dedicated this wine to the ladies of our family, whom he saw entirely in the style of Piodilei: elegant, refined and with great character.
Over the years we have refined the structure of the Piodilei with Chardonnay grapes from the Barolo area and use new oak only to a third to promote elegance, balance and velvetiness. It is produced in very small quantities and it has been our ambition since 1985 to produce a white wine with the same body, complexity and ageing potential as the great red wines produced in the area in the past.
One of my father's most important lessons was never to see tradition as a burden or an inconvenience, but always as a heritage, a responsibility to be proud of: Tradition as a starting point for innovation and the future.
Finally, he was always a reserved person, he never liked being in the limelight and always showed the typical Piedmontese attitude, closed at first, shy, but very warm with friends and very proud of the long tradition of Pio Cesare. He always said: 'Don't show off, let others discover you'. We will cherish his wisdom and foresight forever."
Together with Federica, we decided to devote ourselves intensively to the wines of Pio Boffa with this contribution. We miss him and together with the family we will continue to bring the fruits of his labour to the world and present them to our wine enthusiastic customers.
Dear Pio, from wherever you are watching us, we think of you and commemorate your work and your outstanding wines. SUPERIORE.DE
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