Vite Colte - Terre da Vino

From Terre da Vino to Vite Colte: a cooperative project in the heart of Piedmont

Terre da Vino was founded in the 1980s in the Langhe with the declared goal of producing DOC and DOCG level wines from the best sites in Piedmont. What began as a regional cooperative grew over the decades into one of the most respected collective wineries in the region. From 2010, the quality project Vite Colte began to take shape within this structure: selected winemakers from the best vineyard sites were brought together under their own production protocol, with separately managed vineyards, fermentation, and aging. In 2016, the cooperative took the next step and launched all the quality wines of this project under the new name Vite Colte — which in Italian means something like "the art of vine cultivation." Today, Vite Colte unites 180 winemakers who together cultivate 300 hectares of vineyards in Barolo, the Langhe, the Monferrato, in Roero, and Gavi. The winery center in Barolo, opened in 2000 and located below the most renowned cru sites of Barolo, has received multiple awards as a building and was showcased in 2006 as part of the Milan Triennale and the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Protocol instead of chance: how 180 winemakers create quality together

The foundation of Vite Colte is a binding cultivation protocol that all members sign and adhere to. It stipulates that only grapes from vine stocks at least 15 years old are processed. Yields are kept consistently low, harvesting is done exclusively by hand, and every growth phase is accompanied in close coordination with the house's agronomy team. This principle takes effect long before the harvest: the vineyards are managed according to the principles of integrated cultivation, parts of which are already managed organically and carry the ICEA certification. Since 2014, the integrated cultivation has been certified according to the SQNPI standard.

Economically, Vite Colte breaks with the classic volume-oriented thinking of a cooperative: the winemakers are paid according to the planted area, not according to the quantity delivered — a clear incentive for careful cultivation instead of overproduction. In the cellar, there are temperature-controlled steel tanks, up to 2,000 large oak barrels for the long-term aging of Barolo and Barbaresco, as well as around 3,000 barriques. An internal laboratory accompanies the entire process from fermentation to bottling. The three declared guiding principles — social solidarity, economic sustainability, and ecological responsibility — are not just mission statement rhetoric, but are anchored in the contract framework and the remuneration structure.

Nebbiolo, Barbera, Moscato: the entire Piedmont in one assortment

Vite Colte covers the spectrum of Piedmont types more broadly than most individual wineries: from the fine perlage of an Alta Langa Metodo Classico to the aromatic Moscato d'Asti to the great red wines of the Langhe. The core is formed by Nebbiolo wines from Barolo and Barbaresco — the Essenze Barolos come from the municipalities of Barolo, Monforte d'Alba, and Serralunga d'Alba, the Barbaresco Casa in Collina draws on fossil-clay soils. Riserva bottlings are only released in excellent vintages. The Barbera d'Asti La Luna e i Falò is considered the house's flagship wine: powerful fruit, clear acidity line, characteristically Piedmontese. The assortment is complemented by the Roero Arneis Villata, the Gavi del Comune di Gavi Masseria dei Carmelitani, as well as the fruity-elegant Barbera d'Alba Croere. Anyone who wants to get to know Piedmont not wine by wine, but as a whole, will find a reliable, geographically and stylistically broad entry point at Vite Colte.