Olek Bondonio

Olek Bondonio works out of La Berchialla, his family's 200-year-old farmhouse perched above the Roncagliette cru in Barbaresco, where his great-great-great grandfather Guglielmo Como was a founding member of the Cantina Sociale that became Produttori del Barbaresco in 1894. A former competitive snowboarder, Olek returned to wine in the early 2000s and released his first vintage of around 2,000 bottles in 2005. The estate spans three sites: Roncagliette in Barbaresco (heavy clay over blue marl, 50-year-old vines), Starderi in Neive (softer clay and lighter marl, 40-year-old vines), and Altavilla in the broader Langhe (40-45-year-old Barbera). The range runs to Barbaresco Roncagliette and Barbaresco Starderi, Langhe Nebbiolo, Barbera d'Alba, a negoce Barbera d'Asti, the Pelaverga-based Rosso Giulietta, and a Barbera Vino Rosso called Mosca. Estate wines have been certified organic since 2018 and farmed with biodynamic practices; in the cellar Olek leans on spontaneous fermentation, the basket press, long elevage in large Slavonian botti for the Nebbiolos, and bottling without fining or filtration.