to know…

To know the Man, to understand his wines.

The man who speaks with his hands

Do you know Sergio Gomba? Perhaps, it is easier to know his wines. To tell the story means to reveal the results of a lifetime work, tough and capable. A life spent, in the last 25 years, to cultivate a dream: the rebirth of Cascina Boschetti, just above the village of Barolo. Sergio Gomba’s work has turned the house and the vineyards  into a beautiful twenty-hectare estate,in one of the most beautiful locations in the heart of the Barolo DOCG. “The work has never scared me, even now that I have a certain age,” he says without emphasis, this man of few words.

To understand him just look at his hands.

Who is Sergio Gomba?  He was born the March 14, 1944 in a farmers family. His father Giovanni had a little of land in Piana Biglini, near Alba towards Bra. His mother Maria comes from Lequio Berria, in Langa. Sergio is the last of five children.  At home everyone had to do his part. Sergio, even being a child, soon learns to lead the ox in the fields.Those were difficult years. After the war who could leave left the village for the city: better to work in factories with paid holidays. Father Giovanni did not give up. He bought a tractor and a mower. He also worked for other people. Giuseppe, the elder brother was a bricklayer and started a small business. In 1963 Sergio took the license and became a truck driver. He works with his brother and helps his parents to run the land in the few free time.

“For me, the land is everything. It is life, it is the future. As soon as I could I bought a farm in Montlupo Albese  with vineyards and hazelnuts “ remembers Sergio. We are in 1977.  A year later his daughter Stefania was born. He had little time to enjoy that. Sergio moved from trucks to tractors. Year after year, harvest after harvest. He looks around. Someone told him that in Barolo there was a farmhouse for sale. It was very damaged. The owners from Monforte moved to Liguria. The place is magical, an exceptional view of the vineyards and of the mountains crown. Sergio is a man of quick decisions. He bought the farmhouse in the summer of 1991 and in autumn affronted the first grape harvest of the only one vineyard which was then in production.

A year later he  planted three hectares of nebbiolo.  In 1998 the hectares  became 11.  
The company has grown and made a name in the difficult world of “barolisti”.  In this adventure and in the growth of the company a special woman, Carla Bosio, joined him. The fate took her away just at the age of 53, but her memory  is alive in Cascina Boschetti. In 2003 started the project to build a new winery and bottling area. In 2005 Sergio also added five mini apartments with beautiful views of the vineyards. Today the company with its twenty hectares of vineyards, is open to wine tourism. Meanwhile Sergio Gomba is back to buy land, this time in the Roero, a return to his origins. In Piobesi he has put together 4 hectares where he will plant Nebbiolo, Barbera and Arneis. In Santa Vittoria there is another vineyard with Arneis and Moscato d’Asti and other  he rents in Monforte. Today Sergio Gomba “signs” 150,000 bottles a year, and at least 90,000 of them are Barolo.

Gomba works with a family team,  his daughter Stefania and nieces Andrea and Giuliana . The winemaker of the house is a young man, Maurizio Delpero, who has won Sergio’s full trust . The export trade is run by Giampiero Sappa. In the vineyards throughout the year there is a Macedonian family that has found  their second homeland in Cascina Boschetti: Zlatko, Vlatko, Blagoj, Zhivojko and Suzana. They learnt to tie even with willows as  their “patron” Sergio taught.

The Boschetti farm is all about. The dream of a man who “speaks” with his hands.: Zlatko, Vlatko, Blagoj, Zhivojko and Suzana.

And that is all about  Cascina Boschetti. A dream of a man who “speaks” with his hands.