Contratto’s story goes back to 1867 in Canelli, where Giuseppe Contratto started making bottle-fermented Moscato and dug the huge tuff cellars that later earned UNESCO status. The winery grew fast, exporting by 1910 and supplying royal courts. In 1919 it released Italy’s first vintage-dated Metodo Classico, then added vermouth and liqueurs in 1920. The Bocchino family took over in 1993, followed by the Rivetti family in 2011, who pushed hard into Alta Langa with high-elevation Pinot Noir and Chardonnay around Bossolasco. Today the focus is long-aged traditional-method sparkling wines supported by low-yield, organic-leaning farming.