THE ORIGINSIn 1488, nobleman Giovanni Cornacchia acquired the fiefs of Poggio a Varano, Poggio de la Casa Nova, Torri and Torano Nuovo with royal assent of Ferdinand I, King of Naples. In 1577, Martino, Vizzarro and Pompeo Cornacchia then acquired the fiefs of S. Maria a Bolignano, Quatrelle and S. Croce, again with royal assent. The Cornacchia family also received the title of baron, with the associated duties.

THE FIRST GENERATION In 1861, following the fall of Bourbon rule and the surrender of the fortress of Civitella, Berardo Cornacchia (1838–1919) withdrew with his family to the hunting reserve of the fief of Casa Nova, to a place called Torri, in Torano Nuovo. Winemaking in the fief had an ancestral heritage and wine was only produced for the use and consumption of the individual families.

SECOND GENERATIONBaron Filippo Vizzarro Cornacchia was the first member of the family to take an interest in viticulture. He became interested in clones of Montepulciano, which was already widespread. Crucially, he had all the vineyards replanted using resistant American rootstock following the devastating phylloxera epidemic. This enabled a great increase in production and commercialisation in small local taverns and the nearby city of Teramo. He began to present the wine at the San Martino di Nereto fair, frequented by visitors from Piedmont who would buy Montepulciano to blend primarily with their Dolcetto grapes, as well as with Nebbiolo and Barbera varieties. Wine sold was transported in barrels on farm wagons to the station at Tortoreto. Then the war brought everything to a standstill.

THIRD GENERATIONAlessandro Cornacchia, a doctor trained in Rome, abandoned a promising career to manage the family’s estate. He was blessed with great talent in both the medical and agricultural spheres, and was an innovative businessman. His medical profession helped him to develop an affinity with and detailed knowledge of the local area. Connections with Italian politicians such as Remo Gaspari and Lorenzo Natali made it possible to found the Torri Cooperative in 1966, and he became the first chairman, convinced that associations were the appropriate commercial solution. At the time, production was focused on quantity rather than quality, with a portion of sales destined for the distillation of alcohol. He pre-empted the end of the sharecropping system, founding the farming enterprise and transferring workers onto fixed salaries without union confrontation but via dialogue and agreement between the parties.

FOURTH GENERATIONFollowing military service, Piero Cornacchia dedicated himself to the company inherited from his father, at this point in debt and with scarce resources. He modernised and expanded with great determination and tenacity. In the ‘70s/‘80s, he exported to European and American markets and in the ‘90s to Japan in particular. Piero Cornacchia replanted the vineyards and modernised the company, adopting new technology and purchasing tools and equipment for vinification and ageing. Between 1990 and 2010 he extended the property and vineyards, purchasing new plots.

FIFTH GENERATIONIn 2016, Filippo and Caterina Cornacchia, having been involved in the company for over a decade, took over the estate and ownership of the business as a gift from their father, founding the company Società Agricola Barone Cornacchia di Filippo e Caterina Cornacchia ss.