Anna Maria Abbona

Yet like so much in the world of wine, the truth is more complicated—and ultimately more compelling. And no story exemplifies it quite like that of Azienda Agricola Anna Maria Abbona. 

It starts traditionally enough: Sharecropper Giuseppe Abbona worked this land from the turn of the 20th century until the mid 1930s, when the old feudalism gave way to smallholder subsistence farming under the efforts of his son Angelo. Angelo begat another Giuseppe, who began expanding the family’s holdings in the 1960s, with the confidence born both of hard work and his literal entitlement as the oldest son and hence predetermined inheritor of the estate. But then came two great ruptures that would turn everything upside-down—and create a crucial opening for an unexpected savior to emerge.

The first was down to fate, which did not grant Giuseppe a son of his own. And so ingrained was the tradition of male primogeniture that folks in the valley simply assumed that the Abbona estate would simply come to an end. That included Giuseppe’s only daughter, Anna Maria. In fact, when she was growing up, she’d already made up her mind to leave. “I decided that I would break away from this world and start working as an advertising graphic designer.”

The second disruption was a true catastrophe: in 1986, the Piedmont was rocked by an epochal scandal when it emerged that a series of winemakers across northern and central Italy were illegally spiking their wine with methanol to boost its alcohol content. In the wake of more than 20 deaths from tainted wine, domestic wine consumption cratered as exports froze. Grape prices plummeted, and by 1989 Giuseppe Abbona could only see one way out: selling the family vineyards. 

And so the stage was set for the prodigal daughter to return. Filled with what she calls “Bastian contrarianism,” Anna Maria decided to give up her job and take over the estate. Backed by her husband, Franco Schellino, she persuaded her father that she could chart a path forward by making Dolcetto di Dogliani with the conscientious spirit it demanded and deserved. 

“We were going completely against the tide,” she recalls. “Most people thought wine was dying as a product.” She conceded that Italians were probably on the path toward drinking less of it—but was convinced that people would respond to authentic wine that adhered to DOCG standards and expressed its origin. And that was a spirit that had wrapped her whole family. “The teachings I had received from my grandfather and father—of honesty and dedication to the land—were a great help in building what would later become the Anna Maria Abbona winery,” she says.

The estate now spans approximately 22 hectares, planted to varietals including including Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Pinot Noir, Nascetta, Riesling, and Chardonnay. Anna Maria and Franco are committed to producing wines that reflect the unique terroir of the Moncucco hills, emphasizing sustainable agriculture in their vineyards situated at elevations between 400 and 550 meters above sea level. They employ organic fertilizers and manual harvesting to ensure the health and quality of their vines. 

The Dolcetto vines, some over 80 years old, thrive in the calcareous soils and southern exposures. The single-vineyard Sori dij But produces a deeply colored wine that expresses flavors of blueberries and tea leaves. The Maioli cuvée, made from old vines planted by Anna Maria’s uncle, offers a rich profile redolent of violets and black fruit. The family’s Langhe Dolcetto, from younger vines, channels concentrated cherry and tobacco notes through a structured yet supple frame. If you’ve never tasted Nascetta, Abbona’s Netta Langhe Bianco is a revelation of creamy orchard-fruit immediacy charged with citric zip and a mineral grip. 

Meanwhile the Bricco San Pietro is a prestigious Barolo drawn from a south- and southeast-exposed spur of tuff and calcareous marl on the edge of Monforte d’Alba. Anna Maria acquired this plot, whose 400-meter-plus elevation puts it near the limit of the DOCG, and totally rehabbed an adjoining cellar where she ages this wine for 24 months in Slavonian oak. The complexity and depth she coaxes from the Guyot-trained Nebbiolo vines here are a testament to her careful investment in the future.

With her forward-thinking approach to traditional winemaking, the legacy Anna Maria Abbona has created is every bit as important as those she inherited. She knows that Langhe’s days as a circular economy, where farmsteads produced everything they needed to be self-sufficient, are unlikely to return. But rather than follow the mirage of “continuous growth,” she has set her sights on “optimizing what our land can produce, without forcing it.” And she is adding her own lessons to those she received from her father and grandfather. In time it will be “up to our sons Federico and Lorenzo,” she says, “to become heirs and innovators—following the values in which we have always believed.”