OF THE HERBS

Santa Brigida Hill, Pinerolo (TO) – Independent Winemakers, Farmers, Brothers

At 570 meters above sea level, with Monviso in front and the Alps all around, two brothers decided that their family's land deserved a second life. This is their story.

The hill overlooking Monviso

There are places that seem made to be gazed upon and places that seem made to be cultivated. The Santa Brigida hill, behind Pinerolo, is both. From here, at an average altitude of 570 meters, the view extends unimpeded to the pyramid-shaped Monviso, and all around, the Alpine chain forms the horizon like an amphitheater. It's a border town: the Turin plain ends here and the valleys begin, with their mountain climate that descends in the evening and retreats in the morning. For the vines, this means sharp temperature variations, clean air, and slow ripening; for those who live there, it means real winters and long-awaited springs. On this slope, where the Dellerba family has worked the land for generations, vineyards, orchards, and meadows grow, and Piedmontese cattle graze. The name the brothers have given to their wines, Brigit, is the name of the hill in Piedmontese, as pronounced by those who were born there.
 
 

 
 

 Two brothers and a decision

Dellerba's modern history begins in 2012, when Alex and Andrea, at a very young age, made a choice many their age wouldn't make: taking back the family land and dedicating their lives to the hills. Not a hobby, not a romantic return to the countryside, but a farming project built with their hands and their minds. Four years later, in 2016, the leap came: the family decided to revitalize the entire farm with an ambitious plan, combining the vineyard with fruit, animals, and hospitality. "After much work and many difficulties," they say, the project took shape: today, the Dai Dellerba farm extends across seventeen hectares, producing blueberries, peaches, apples, and grapes, raising 120 animals, and offering a farmhouse restaurant. Behind it all is a simple belief, which the brothers repeat like a motto: the farmer's hand is the only presence capable of caring for the land. Where there is no one to cultivate, the hill is abandoned.
 
 

 
 

In the vineyard: Freisa, Favorita and the Pinerolo vines

Five and a half hectares of vineyards tell the story of the place better than any label. The heart is the Freise, an ancient and characterful Piedmontese grape variety, which genetic studies have revealed to be closely related to Nebbiolo: aromas of raspberry and rose, lively tannins, great freshness. Alongside it is the Favorita, the white grape that in Piedmont bears this name and that elsewhere is called Vermentino, and then Barbera, Nebbiolo, Malvasia and two rarities that almost only the Pinerolo area preserves: the Doux d'Henry, a grape with a French name that legend has it is linked to King Henry IV, and Galvan. These are the traditional varietals of Pinerolese DOC, one of Piedmont's smallest and most authentic appellations, which the Dellerbas have chosen to preserve rather than follow trends. Cultivation follows precise rules: manure from the company's Piedmontese cows is returned to the vineyard as the only fertilizer, invasive tillage is avoided so the soil can breathe and water can infiltrate to the groundwater, and the necessary energy comes from solar panels installed on the farm. The brothers say that much of the work is done in the vineyard: by the time the grapes arrive at the cellar, the year's labors have already been almost entirely spent.
 
 

 
 

The cellar that sweats water

The Dellerba winery has a secret that no facility could replicate. It's built on a rock, which the family describes as lava stone, from which veins of spring water flow: the walls sweat, the air stays cool, and the humidity is automatically maintained at the perfect level for aging the wines. Nature acts as the climate control, like in the cellars carved into the rock of old. Inside, the philosophy is the same as the vineyard: cleanliness, respect, no forcing. The wines are born in stainless steel, to preserve the grape's aromas intact, and only a few are briefly aged in oak barrels, just enough to enhance the structure of the native grape varieties without overpowering them. From here, the Brigit Neir, Brigit Bianc and Brigit Rosé, the three faces of the hill, and then the Bifa, the Bifa d'Bòsch and Skirts: names in Piedmontese, as befits winemakers who have chosen to remain independent and to sign each bottle with their own grapes, vinified on the estate, from vine to cork.
 
 

 
 

An entire farm, not just a cellar

Those who come to Santa Brigida looking for a winery find a farm. On the seventeen hectares of the estate, alongside the vineyards, grow blueberries, peaches, and apples, from which the Dellerbas produce juices and other locally sourced products. One hundred and twenty animals graze: select Piedmontese cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens, raised according to Piedmontese tradition and with a focus on their well-being. It's a farm that maintains its own balance: the animals fertilize the fields, the fields feed the animals, and the fruit and wine bring the harvest up from the hillside. And then there's the table. At the Dai Dellerba farmhouse, the cuisine is Piedmontese, and the ingredients have names and faces: tajarin with butter and sage, agnolotti del plin, braised and cacciatore-style rabbit, polenta concia, and finally, hazelnut cake, bunet, and panna cotta with the farm's own berries. From the terrace, while you eat, your gaze wanders over the vineyards and mountains, and the wine in your glass is the same one that rests in the rock a few meters below.
 
 

 
 

The grandparents' house, open to all

There's a sentence in the Dellerbas' story that explains everything else: the educational farm was born "from the desire to pass on to children what we experienced at our grandparents' or aunts' house." For Alex and Andrea, the countryside is first and foremost a childhood memory to be shared. That's why the hill is open to anyone who wants to experience it: they can participate in the grape harvest, learn to bake bread, stroll among the vineyards and cherry trees, and the children play with the animals, discover where milk comes from and how grapes are harvested, and end the day with a snack made with the farm's products. It's not entertainment: it's the brothers' way to keep traditions alive, demonstrating that a farm is a place where time slows down and every gesture has meaning. Pinerolo is just a few minutes away and well-connected by public transport, and the Santa Brigida hill is just a day trip from Turin.
 
 

 
 

The future: uncultivated lands brought back to life

The Dellerbas aren't finished. "We have big plans for the future," they say, and the biggest project is the simplest: to repurpose the uncultivated hillside lands, one by one, and write a new chapter in Pinerolo's viticulture, which for decades has seen the vineyards retreat before the woods. Each reclaimed row is a piece of landscape that doesn't collapse, a meadow that retains water, a job that stays in the mountains. This is why Dellerba is on Al Passo Food: because our mission is to support young people who choose to open and grow worthy farms, helping them sell and showcase their products while they stay in the fields doing what they do best. Alex and Andrea are exactly the people we started for. Bringing their wines and their fruit to Rome means bringing a piece of saved hillside to the table, and helping to save another.
 
 

 
 

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