A life choice and a growing project
499 was born from the meeting of Gabriele Saffirio and Mario Andrion and from the desire to build a personal winemaking project, rooted in the Piedmontese hills and their diversity.
From the outset we chose an artisanal scale: knowing the vineyards, following them through the year and accompanying each harvest with care, from vine to bottle.
'Farming our vineyards well, respecting the vintages, making wines we can recognise as our own.'
Who is behind the number
Gabriele Saffirio
Today he leads 499 in its day-to-day work and development. He personally follows every vineyard through all its stages — from pruning to harvest — with a vision that is both rooted in the land and artisanal in practice. His constant presence in the vineyard is the engine of the project.
Mario Andrion, co-founder of 499, is no longer part of the company and continues to collaborate exclusively as an external winemaker, lending his expertise to the wines.
Care begins before harvest
For us, respect for the land translates into daily decisions. In our vineyards we no longer use herbicides: we manage vegetation through mechanical tillage and mowing, adapting the work to each plot's conditions.
We follow the SQNPI certified integrated production pathway, which commits us to observing, documenting and making our interventions in the vineyard more informed.
In the cellar we seek to accompany the raw material by respecting its character. Spontaneous fermentations are part of our approach, alongside the choice to limit interventions and allow room for the expression of the grapes and the vintage.
Each wine requires its own timing and attention. Our job is to follow it, taste it and understand when it is ready.
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