Bruna

Bruna winery was born out of my father Riccardo’s insight and passion. He is the most typical of Ligurian hinterland men: strict and stubborn, shy at times, and although he thinks of himself as a conservative, I know that he is a revolutionist at heart. In the early seventies, he produced and bottled Pigato wine from the family’s historic vineyards in Ranzo. He was the first in town to do it and he made a decision on his future which was quite uncommon back in those days in Liguria. My maternal grandfather supported him from the very start and planted new vineyards in Ortovero. His name was Virginio Capello, he was a farmer blessed with a sophisticated and modern-oriented mind, he was a visionary. He even thought of opening an ice-cream parlor in Constantinople in the twenties! He has always believed in the Pigato variety.

I remember him with great affection, as an old, skinny man, seated on the doorsteps while peering at the pergola vineyards planted all around, as if they were holding him in their embrace. My father, whom we all affectionately called U Baccan, the local dialect word for “boss”, worked hard over the years to expand the family-owned vineyards, paying great attention to both the best-positioned winegrowing soil and the production of wines reflecting his personality and the grape variety’s typicality. He was a great innovator in those years….

My sister and I, still two young girls, helped out during harvest and in the wine cellar and had the time of our life. Dad complained with Meneghin, his faithful assistant, because, in his opinion, we never did anything right. Then we moved to Genoa to go to university, being absolutely sure that engineering and pharmaceutical chemistry would be our future. In those years, farming was not young people’s greatest ambition.

However, after graduating, against all expectations and despite mother’s and father’s grumbling, we came back home. We wanted to be winegrowers. For years now, we have been passionately taking care of the winery: my sister Annamaria, my husband Roberto and myself. We decided to farm our land using only natural methods. This decision changed our life. For the better. (Francesca Bruna)