Why it matters
The producer
When Giorgio Pelissero returned to Treiso in the 1990s with an oenology degree from the school in Alba, the family estate had already been producing wine for three decades. His arrival turned a farming operation into one with technical grounding: systematic vineyard management across 42 hectares, temperature-controlled fermentation, and a range built to carry the Barbaresco DOCG label into more than 60 countries.
The estate sits at Via Ferrere 10 in Treiso, a hill-town that became an independent municipality in 1957 and sits at the centre of the Barbaresco DOCG zone. Nebbiolo, Barbera, and Dolcetto account for 85 percent of production, all grown from estate-owned vineyards. Pelissero purchases no fruit from outside growers.
Place and vineyards
Where the wines begin
Barbaresco is the DOCG appellation that runs east from Alba along the Tanaro river in Piemonte, covering four communes: Barbaresco, Neive, Treiso, and San Rocco Seno d'Elvio. Pelissero farms across three of those communes and also Neviglie, giving the estate access to different slope aspects and soil profiles within the one appellation.
Treiso sits at the southern edge of the DOCG, at higher ground than the town of Barbaresco itself. The elevation in the Pelissero vineyards ranges from 250 to 400 metres, and that altitude slows ripening through the long Piemontese autumn, giving Nebbiolo more time to build acidity and aromatic complexity before harvest. The result in the glass is a wine that carries firm tannin and a clear acid line alongside the grape's characteristic red-fruit and dried-floral character.
In the cellar
Vineyards and cellar
The 42 hectares are planted exclusively with indigenous varieties. No single vineyard is contracted out and no external fruit enters the cellar. Across four municipalities, the estate manages its own pruning cycle, harvest timing, and selection decisions.
In the cellar, Pelissero uses gentle pressing to avoid extracting harsh phenolics from the thick-skinned Nebbiolo grapes. Fermentation takes place in temperature-controlled stainless-steel tanks, which preserves the grape's primary aromatics during the conversion of sugar to alcohol. After fermentation, the wines move to French oak barrels for ageing. French oak tends to integrate more quietly than Slavonian oak, contributing some spice without overwhelming Nebbiolo's rose, tar, and red-cherry aromatic register.
Wines to know
The range in view
The Barbaresco DOCG sits at the top of the range. Within the DOCG tier, Nubiola is the estate's introductory Barbaresco, drawn from Nebbiolo grown across the Treiso estate and the surrounding Barbaresco zone. Above Nubiola sit at least two single-vineyard or selection-level bottlings, though the precise details of those upper cuvees are not available from the gathered sources.
The Barbera d'Alba DOC Piani is the estate's principal Barbera bottling, drawing fruit from the Langhe hills around Treiso. Barbera differs fundamentally from Nebbiolo: lower tannin, higher natural acidity, and a darker fruit profile running toward plum and blackcurrant rather than the cherry and dried rose of Nebbiolo. The Piani undergoes maceration and French oak ageing, and the wine carries the rounder, fuller body that Barbera produces with careful cellar work.
A useful way in
A bottle to begin with
Start with the Barbaresco DOCG Nubiola. It is 100 percent Nebbiolo from Treiso and the surrounding Barbaresco zone, gently pressed, fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel, and aged in French oak. The grape, the appellation, the soils, and the cellar approach all meet in this single bottle. Firm tannin, a clear acid line, dried-rose aromatics, and red cherry: these are the characteristics that define Barbaresco Nebbiolo, and Nubiola gives them to you without the premium of a single-vineyard selection. It is also the point at which the estate's 42-hectare farming commitment and its three-generation history become tangible in the glass.