History
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The company was established in 1976 by brothers' Franco and Carlo Pontiglione and by Giuseppe Priola. Lovers as they are of their own land, they did not hesitate in relaunching and making the most of the Langa's most typical product, thanks also to mother nature's generosity
Verduno Pelaverga: history and stories Popular tradition has it that the Pelaverga vine was introduced in the town of Verduno in the XVII century, by., Blessed Sebastiano Valfrè, who brought some vine growing in the zone of Saluzzo. Present from time immemorial on the hills of Verduno connected with the story of Blessed in Fragrance of holiness, but also talked about as aphrodisiac, has always been considered a young adventurous knight, lively and light-hearted, a little saint and a little devil, in the court of King Barolo. Once a remedy was found for these scourges, wine growing started to flourish again until new and perhaps even worse scourges hit it. The two World Wars and economical crisis following the first and pre-announced the second, put winegrowing in the Langa into difficulty once again. In the 50’s of the XX century, Peleverga was sporadically grown and used to produce grapes for eating, which were sold in the markets in Turin, or were used in other local vineyards. Slowly its diffussion diminished drastically nearly making it disappear. In the 70’s, always in the last century, thanks to the intuition of some great vine-dressers from Verduno, one being Mr. Giuseppe Priola, one of the owners of Bel Colle, saved Peleverga from extinction and was recovered. Since then, up till today, the growth of Peleverga, through physiological ups and downs, has never stopped, reaching in 1995 the sought after D.O.C. recognition. The Verduno Pelaverga or simply Verduno wine, represents a small pearl of Langa oenology, therefore worldwide, a precious patrimony to respect and make use of to the full. The total area of the Pelaverga vineyards is only 15 hectares, but its importance for the territory which produces it is decisively relevant, more than any other wine grown. In the 1990’s the Piedmont Region made a very close study of the two vines grown in Verduno and the Saluzzo area, and it concluded that they are two completely different vines, with just one thing in common. The name. To demonstrate such an affermation, in the National Catalogue of Vine Variety, Peleverga of Verduno has been registered as Peleverga Piccolo, a characteristic regarding the grape, to distinguish it from the other Peleverga. |
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Beato Sebastiano Valfrè Born in Verduno on the 9th of March 1629 into a poor family, like many in that period, he finished his studies among many economical difficulties in Alba and Bra, moving to Turin at sixteen years of age. He managed to keep himself by being a copyist, to complete his philosophical studies. In 1650 he got a degree in Theology and ordained priest within the next year in the Congregation of the Oratory. This was founded in 1649 by Father Pier Antonio Defera with the help of priest Ottavio Cambiani and it inspired towards the teachings of San Filippo Neri “the Apostle of Rome”. The premature death of Father Pier Antonio Defera at just 34 years old on the 11th of September 1650 caused a profound crisis in the young congregation and all of the extraordinary preaching, not only in church but also and above all in every corner of the city of Turin, accompanied by feverish confessional activity, visits to prisons and hospitals seemed to be destined to fail. In May of 1651 the young Sebastiano Valfrè presented himself to Father Ottavio Cambiani and asked to be admitted into the congregation, practically composed of only one person, without meansand near to closure. Valfrè was born poor, lived as a poor man and was not frightened by it. A little more than twenty years old, with a vitality and enthusiasm, not common, he threw himself into this new adventure to the full, without reserve and without savings, resuming the pastoral activity where Father Defera was constricted to interrupt. His tireless activity led him to have contacts with all social classes of Turin, from the most humble to His Royal Highness, the King of Piedmont, Vittorio Amadeo II. For the population, the majority illiterate and extremely poor, he became a sort of hope, but also a certainty of help in alleviating the moment’s difficulties. He dedicated all of his life to being an apostolate, so much that San Giovanni Bosco defined him “The Apostle of Turin”.An example was his assistance to the people of Turin during the seige of the French in 1706, the same Pietro Micca was looked after and confessed by Valfrè. Thanks to his assistance to the Savoyard troops during the war with the French, he was named patron of the army. He died in Turin on the 30th of January 1710 and on his death, Amedeo II of Savoy said he had lost a great friend and the poor, a great protector and father. He was the precursor and master of great Torinese Social Saints such as Giovanni Bosco, Giuseppe Benedetto Cottolengo and Giuseppe Cafasso. |