The Name on the Ruins
The winery takes its name from a small hut — a ciabot in Piedmontese dialect — that once stood at the edge of the property and belonged to a man named Berton. He attempted, at some point in the estate's long prehistory, to manufacture artisanal fireworks in the hut. The hut caught fire. The ruins are still there, still visible from the cellar. The family named the estate after them.
This is the Oberto family's way of announcing themselves: we began with a folly, and we kept the evidence.
The family has farmed this land in La Morra since 1876, when a woman named Giovina purchased the first vineyard in Rive — one of the commune's most prized crus. The generations that followed were shaped as much by tragedy as by intention. A man collecting mulberry leaves for silkworm cultivation fell from the tree and died, leaving behind a one-year-old son. His widow Maddalena raised the child alone, bought additional land in the years that followed, and kept the operation running at a moment when the easier choice was to sell. The Oberto women have been making these decisions across five generations.
Luigi Oberto, born 1935, was the one who changed the direction. The family calls him un monello che ci vedeva lontano — a rascal who saw far ahead. He put the winery's name on a label in 1946, registered it in 1948, and wrote vineyard names on the labels in 1965, decades before the practice became standard. His son Marco brought the formal winemaking knowledge; Marco's wife Federica brought the language of hospitality, and the sons — Edo, Giacomo, Nicola — are learning the rest.
The youngest detail in the estate's archive does not come from 1876 or 1948. It comes from a child who could not yet say lumachine — the Piedmontese word for snails — and called them macaline instead. That mispronunciation now appears on a label. The child who invented it is almost eighteen, drives tractors and cars with equal confidence, and at age ten was convincing strangers in the driveway to visit the winery and buy wine. There is always, in these families, someone who sees further than the rest. Usually they are already visible by ten.
Ciabot Berton was founded in La Morra in 1876. The estate has been run by four generations of the Oberto family. Fifth generation in training.
Az. Agr. Oberto Marco
Fraz. S.Maria, 1
La Morra (CN) – Italia
Tel. +39.0173.50217
info@ciabotberton.it
IG: Ciabot Berton
