L' ARMANGIA AZ. AGR. / WINE CELLAR

About Winery and Wines

It’s hard for someone with a technical background like mine to reveal all the poetry and love that lies behind what I’m going to describe to you. Perhaps I’m better at showing these things through my wines than with words. But then, I certainly wouldn’t want to hand the job over to others just to make better literature. So please understand that my feelings truly flow from my heart and that my real means of self-expression is my winemaking. My family has lived in Canelli since at least as far back as the late 17th century. A certain Ignazio Giovine was reported to own a cart and oxen back in 1653. One hundred years later, my ancestors were the proud owners of a few vineyards on the hills surrounding the Sant'Antonio hamlet in Canelli, an area historically renowned for producing the best Moscato d'Asti. From 1850 on, the family started to make wine from their own grapes. We sold it mostly in Italy and, thanks to Piedmontese emigrants in Latin America, in Brazil and Argentina too. Over the years the farm gradually developed its wine business, partly producing the grapes in the family vineyards, partly buying them. That’s how I still found things in 1988, at the end of my long training in oenology in Alba. A couple of years had passed since my father, Giuseppe Giovine, had persuaded me to return to a more agriculture-oriented way of life when, on May 8th 1988, I set up my own brand new vine-growing business. At first I based myself on the ancient family vineyards and I drew upon my ancestors’ extensive winemaking expertise to create my winery: L'armangia. In Piedmontese dialect, L'armangia means “turning the tables”. For my family and myself it was essential to bring the name of Canelli back to the same level of renown as the other famous wine cities, freeing it from the industrial look it had developed in the past few decades.

Our combination of soil and climate is as special as the oenological history of this area. Our two unique grape varieties – Moscato bianco Canelli and Barbera – and a tradition of fine wines and food the whole world envies us, go with a landscape worthy of UNESCO protection and unparalleled technological expertise. This is what Canelli and its surroundings stand for, this is what we – together with the many high-quality growers in this area – would like to show the world. Moscato d’Asti Canelli is produced between the Langhe and Monferrato hills, the two best-suited areas for wine grape-growing in Piedmont. This wine has a unique combination of rich aromas and longevity, and a time-honored tradition that goes back to the Roman Empire, two millennia ago. It has been frequently, but unsuccessfully, imitated the world over. The loose-textured soil is rich in limestone and, in combination with a temperate climate, it contributes to producing full-bodied and long-lived whites. Canelli is also the birthplace of Italian Spumante: in 1865, Carlo Gancia started a tradition we are still proud of today.