Bartolomeo Borgogno founded his winery in 1761; upon his death in 1794 his three sons took over control of the winery, though only one, the youngest, Giacomo, persevered. Giacomo Borgogno had four children: Eugenio Giuseppe, Carlo (who became a priest), Bartolomeo (who died as a teenager) and Marianna.

When he was little more than a boy, Eugenio Giuseppe, born in 1827, took over for his father and signed a contract to provide wine to a boarding school for the sons of army officers (Esercito Sabaudo di Racconigi) in 1848. This was the first legal document in which the firm is cited, and, still guarded jealously today, it would play a fundamental role in the company’s more recent history.

A very active person, Eugenio Giuseppe was involved in many other activities beside the winery. He had six children; five daughters and a son, Giacomo, born in 1863.

In 1861 Borgogno Barolo was served at an official banquet celebrating the unification of Italy.

Eugenio Giuseppe Borgogno died on January 26, 1871, and his wife was forced to assign management of the winery to the local parish church’s winery, Il Parroco dell’Annunziata di La Morra. Over time that choice proved to be so disastrous that the 18-year-old Giacomo Borgogno left his studies at Bra to take over management, and put the company’s affairs back in order.

Giacomo Borgogno had five children: Maria Luisa, Eugenio, Corrado Natale and Cesare. Maria Louisa died very young, while Eugenio and Corrado left home to pursue other activities. Natale became a professor at the Collegio di Barolo boarding school, though together with his mother Giulia he helped manage the winery while his brother Cesare was still too young.

Cesare Borgogno, the youngest of these children, was born April 28, 1900 and took over management of the winery in 1920, immediately giving it new vitality. For the first time sales of Borgogno went outside national borders!

In 1937 Cesare Borgogno married Maria Chiavassa; they had no children, but adopted Maria’s neice, Ida Chiavassa At the end of World War II, the winery underwent a significant transformation thanks to the dynamic personality of Cesare Borgogno, together with his wife, his neice, and her future husband, Franco.

Cesare Borgogno conquered the Argentinian market, but after two full years of successful work political situation of that country changed and all relations were severed. Slowly the Italian market grew, as new markets in Europe opened as well. In 1947 Cesare Borgogno appointed Banfi Vintners of New York its exclusive US importer, a relationship that endures to this day and has guaranteed the Borgogno winery a solid and lasting presence in the world market.

In 1954 the Borgogno winery and cellars underwent a complete restructuring and expansion. In 1955, a lawsuit filed by the French Institute of Appellations sought to block the further use of the name Borgogno because of its similarity to the French word Bourgogne, for Burgundy. The house was in grave danger, but a clear victory was achieved thanks to the aforementioned document dating to 1848.

In 1959 another restructuring was started, which in the course of four years doubled the capacity of the winery.

On October 20, 1967, Cesare Borgogno, who years previosly had been knighted by the Italian government as a “Cavalliere della Repubblica,” began a transformed the winery administration and renamed it “Giacomo Borgogno & Figli.” However, he was not able to oversee the completion of this corporate transformation before he was stricken by a fatal disease, and passed away on July 7, 1968. His wife Maria Chiavassa Borgogno took over control of the company, assisted by a board composed of Ida Chiavassa Boschis, Franco Boschis, Corrado Borgogno (son of Cesare’s brother) and his wife Maria Luisa Garau. They pursued the transformation of the company, modifying policy by ceasing sales in bulk (which up to that point was the major share of the company’s business) and dedicating production to bottle sales only.

In March 1972 at an auction of vintage wines in Turin, a bottle of Borgogno Barolo 1886 was sold for 530,000 lire, a record high price for any bottle of Italian wine. The same vintage had been served many years earlier at a banquet honoring the state visit to Italy of Czar Nicholas 11 Romanov of Russia.

In July 1976 Maria Chiavassa Borgogno ceded control of the company to her neice Ida and Ida’s husband, Franco, though Maria continued to play an active role in the company until 1994. Eventually the shares of Corrado Borgogno and Maria Luisa Garau were ceded to the Boschis family as well.

In early 1977 the winery underwent yet another expansion, greatly expanding the ageing and storage areas over the course of two years.

Gradually the children of Franco and Ida - Cesare, Margherita, Chiara and Giorgio - joined the company, taking an active role in expanding current markets and opening new ones.