Barolo Chinato, Vajra

In 1972, Aldo Vaira (Vaira is the family name, Vajra the winery name) made a controversial decision to leave Turin to found the G.D. Vajra winery in the hamlet of Vergne, in the hills above the village of Barolo. At the time, most Piedmontese were leaving the countryside for the city in search of a better life; but he, born in Turin, had fallen in love with the profession of winegrower a few years earlier when his father sent him to spend the summer in the country, after he had shown a passing interest in the protest movements that were gaining momentum in Turin at the end of the 1960s. Thus one temporary rebellion led to a more permanent one; and although the family had owned vineyards in the area for several generations, wines were first bottled under the Vajra name in the 1970s. The initials "G.D." stand for Giuseppe Domenico, Aldo Vajra's father, who signed the founding papers of the estate in 1972, Aldo himself being a minor at the time. 

In the beginning, Aldo and his wife Milena ran the winery on nights and weekends, while Aldo taught viticulture at the University of Alba. Over time, they expanded the estate to about 40 hectares, which is now cultivated in a sustainable manner. From the beginning, G.D. Vajra has been a family...