The arrival of The Americans was pretty much the sole subject of conversation in Piedmont when Jane Anson(correspondent at Decanter Magazine) was there in October 2015.

Then just as things died down, the same Americans picked up another piece of prized Piedmontese land a few weeks before Jane Anson arrived back there this summer. The Vietti sale started up the gossip machine all over again.

It turns out, as is so often the case in this tiniest of worlds, that one in a roundabout fashion led to the other. Head back to last year’s harvest, and the first purchase made by the Krause family. Owners of Kum & Go supermarket chain that counts 400 stores across eleven states of mainly Midwest America, Kyle Krause was the surprise buyer of Enrico Serafino, a 19th century firm owned by the Campari Group based in the Roero. It was a firm that was making a range of wines from sparkling Asti to nebbiolos of Barolo and Barbaresco but had lost some of its glamour over recent decades, and perhaps – or so the local reaction went at the time – there was a certain logic to its going to a big retail group.

Not so with this year’s purchase. In buying Vietti winery, Krause has truly got a local treasure. Set on the stunning slopes of Castiglione Faletto, Vietti is a winery that dates back to the mid 19th century and that was under the ownership of the fifth generation of the Currado family. It makes highly prestigious single vineyard wines from over 25 MGAs (the equivalent of Burgundy climats) across 90 acres of Barolo and Barbaresco, and the outrage that met news of the purchase gives you some idea of how highly this place is regarded.

She was not sure she can remember such an aggressive reaction to a sale,’ Luca Currado told me this week, over what may have been my most enjoyable phone conversation of the year. Anyone who thinks that this is a man who has sold out should really take five minutes to speak to him.

‘It caused a crazy stir from many people who knew nothing about the reality,’ said Currado, who is remaining in place as director and winemaker. ‘Currado didn’t want to sell, but when he was given no choice, his overriding aim was to not split up the incredible grands crus lands that we have. And the only way that he could accept to stay on was to be assured that he would have 100% freedom to make the wine as he always have’. He paused, then decided that he was not being clear enough. ‘No, 200% freedom.’

Ironically, it might never have happened if it hadn’t been for Roberto Conterno. The Enrico Serafino success was preceded by a failed attempt to buy the historic Arione vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba that was being sold by Maurizio Rosso. The vineyard’s neighbour Roberto Conterno used his pre-emption right under Italian law to stop Krause’ purchase in favour of his own.

It was this that meant Krause went back to the drawing board and finally succeeded in buying Erico Serafino. Which, it turns out, was also the subject of a purchase bid by the Currado family of Vietti.

Are you keeping up? Basically, this meant that Vietti had its long-term prospects weakened, and pressure from the wider family members to sell up was increased. And to everyone’s surprise, this was when they looked to the American family that had bettered them in the Serafino bid.

‘We had many offers for Vietti, including from prestigious French brands, but we had watched Kyle Krause purchase several excellent individual pieces of vineyard land such as Mosconi and Bricco Ravera in Monforte d’Alba, and felt that he would respect our desire to keep Vietti focused on highest quality Barolo’.

Read more at Decanter