Paolo Berta, Giovanni’s son, still had no idea that he would establish the Distillery. Paolo was just a young man who had attended wine-making school and was an apprentice at a winery in Canelli. One day he decided to stop and grab something to eat in a delicatessen, and this was to be the encounter that changed his life. The girl who was serving at the counter, the shopkeepers’ daughter, was so beautiful that Paolo came back every day for the next few months to buy all kinds of cold meats and salami just so that he could talk to her. He was already in love with her, despite the fact that the only thing he knew about her was her name: Lidia.

Lidia and Paolo wasted no time: shortly after meeting each other, they got married and decided to make their home in Nizza Monferrato, and to build the first Distillery, on the ground floor of their home, in the name of radical, tenacious, uncompromising work. Work based on a maniacal and tireless quest for perfection, for the ultimate synthesis of the good and the beautiful, for the best raw materials, processed with a level of care bordering on devotion. The stills began to heat up right here where, when you look up, you can see the Barbera hills.

Gianfranco, a man with a passion for fragrances and flavours, a man who spent much of his time in the cellar, poured the deepest love into every drop of the grappa he produced; Enrico travelled the world, from Northern Europe to South America via the Orient, accompanied by the bottles his brother created. Gian’s wife Simonetta took care of the company’s administration. All that was missing was the space to house a dream that was growing bigger and bigger: from Nizza Monferrato we returned to Casalotto, to the very hill where we had come from and where part of us had always been.

This land had given us its fruits; we decided to give something back. We take over Moriondo Carlo, a historical name in Piedmontese amaretto, continue to renovate Villa Prato, acquire the Castle of Monteu Roero, and give the residents a chance to frequent it again. Everything seemed possible, everything was within reach, the big question mark hanging over the future gave us no cause for concern whatsoever.

It’s always been this way. We love houses full of people, welcoming friends, creating meetings. To complete it all, just one piece was missing: a bright, spacious place with large windows and a terrace to be embraced by the hills; A place to celebrate a wedding full of friends, organise a successful corporate convention, experience a great night out; This is Borgo Roccanivo: and we could only inaugurate it with a special event; On 3 May 2022, Federico Buffa brought to Borgo Roccanivo Italia Mundial, the unforgettable victory of the Italian national team at the World Cup held in Spain in 1982;

Bars exist to be jumped over; This is what we try to do all the time, every day, with the perseverance of those who know that every day you can take one step further than the day before; The important thing is never to stand completely still; The Castelletto dell’Annunziata and the Convento di San Giovanni, an ancient convent with a miraculous history behind it, are proof of this: two ambitious renovations, two pieces of history to be revived; What they will become, we will find out together; But even a big story, if you go it alone, is small; And raising the bar also means doing things you have never had the courage to do: on 5 May 2023 we did something that in more than 75 years we had never even thought we could do; Together with Adriano Attus, Sotheby’s and Pavesio e Associati with Negri-Clementi, we auctioned 20 pieces including precious customised bottles, large wall art and small desk art; The proceeds of more than €29,000 were donated in full to Libera for the Amunì project, which helps young people who have committed crimes to make a new start in the name of justice;