The 143-year-old Vietti winery in Piedmont has been sold to the Krause family, self-confessed Barolo lovers and owners of convenience stores in the US, for an undisclosed fee.
Vietti is the Krause family’s second winery acquisition in Piedmont in the past year, after buying Enrico Serafino from Gruppo Campari in June 2015.
A spokesperson for Krause’s convenience store chain in Iowa, Kum & Go, confirmed that ‘ownership of the Vietti winery has transitioned to the Krause family’. Specific details of the Vietti deal, including the fee, remained unclear.
Vietti, based in Castiglione Falletto in the Langhe area and with 34 hectares (84 acres) of vines, was founded in 1873 and is a key part of Barolo history.
Boths sides were keen to re-assure a winemaking area steeped in tradition that little would change day-to-day.
‘Nothing at Vietti will change, if only for the better,’ said Luca Currado, oenologist and chief executive of Vietti. Both he and Mario Cordero, director of marketing and sales, will stay in their posts.
‘Our family has the utmost respect for what they and their families have built over five generations and do not plan to change anything,’ said Kyle Krause, who emphasised his Italian-American roots and love for Barolo wines.
Krause added that he sees potential for his family’s two acquired wineries, Vietti and Enrico Serafino, to work together.
Curradoa and Cordero will both consult for Enrico Serafino, based in Canale d’Alba.
Currado said, ‘With this alliance, Vietti will have access to an additional 12 hectares (29.6 acres) of cru vineyards in Barolo that were recently purchased by Krause.
‘These vineyards will allow us to make our Castiglione and Perbacco bottlings even better.
‘Over time, we will explore the possibility of using one of their many properties to produce a new cru bottling.’
Currado also said that the Barolo landscape was ‘changing rapidly’ and that he was pleased to have secured the family legacy.
Krause and his wife, Sharon, also own organic farming operations in the US.
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