Figli Luigi Oddero

The observation tower overlooking the Menzione Geografica of Barolo Rive was where the vintner Luigi Parà would climb in the mid-19th century armed with a megaphone to give orders to his labourers. Legend tells that he forced them to sing, so that they wouldn’t eat the grapes.

A little ways away is Tenuta Parà – formerly known as Cascina Bettolotti, the manor house of the Bishop of Alba – the current home of the Figli Luigi Oddero winery. It is the production hub for 32 hectares of vineyards, 18 of which are planted with Nebbiolo.

Luigi Oddero was a charismatic figure, according to the writer Mario Soldati: a man of great culture and curiosity, a preserver of tradition and a lover of progress; his philosophy permeates every brick of this winery, where concrete tanks and huge French oak casks cohabit and modern winemaking techniques coexist with a low-impact approach to agriculture which has led to the complete elimination of herbicides and the use of biological defence methods.