My grandfather Francesco Augusto Cappellano, an oenologist, followed his ancestors’ footsteps in passing on the baton to his son Teobaldo, my father, at the end of the 1960s. After his childhood in Eritrea, Teobaldo took the helm of the company and changed it dramatically: much smaller in size and highest quality control, following very specific guidelines.
On the one side, a renewed attention to the territory in terms of local commitment and dedication. In those years, the Langhe did not have today’s reputation. They were hard lands and Teobaldo’s commitment was to promote and defend them with an active and tireless participation in Consorzio del Barolo e Barbaresco and as president of Enoteca Regionale del Barolo. On the other side, the recent visibility and financial difficulties of the winemakers made the prospects of an industrial approach to viticolture way too attractive. Teobaldo was among the first to vindicate the need to re-think winemaking, rediscovering the harmony with the ancestral activity of the farmers and taking on the responsibilities of environmental protection. In the final years of his life, he was president of the association Vini Veri (“True Wines”), in the frontline of the promotion of a natural approach to winemaking, and he was especially active in the creation of a network of responsible producers, oriented towards research and mutual support. The quality-oriented approach meant that renewed attention was given to Barolo Chinato.
The 1960s was not a good period because of the proliferation of low-quality competition. Teobaldo stubbornly kept believing in the handwritten recipe of his uncle Giuseppe, and received from his father Francesco in a sealed envelope.
With his characteristic tact and perseverance, he long fought against the prejudices which afflicted Barolo Chinato. After years of struggle, he succeeded in his intent to reinstate the elixir to the prestige it is entitled to and which boasts now. He accomplished this by jealously protecting, in bad times and in good times, his ancestor’s recipe and the product’s artisanal nature.
