Giulio Cocchi was a Florentine pastry-maker who set up in Asti in 1891. He built his business on aromatised wines and sparkling Asti, with his own recipes for Barolo Chinato, Americano and several vermouths. The Bava family has owned the house since 1978, and its cellars now sit next to Bava's on the edge of Cocconato. Cocchi is best known today for its Storico Vermouth di Torino, its Barolo Chinato and its Alta Langa DOCG. The Alta Langa is vintage-dated Pinot Nero and Chardonnay, riddled by hand on wooden pupitres, and Cocchi was a founding member of the Alta Langa consortium. The range also takes in Asti, Brachetto d'Acqui, Martinotti-method bruts and grappa.
Visits are booked through Bava and use the same tasting room. The Cocchi options are a vermouth-and-aperitivo session in the botanical library, with four aromatised wines and an introduction to mixing, and an Alta Langa tasting of three or five cuvées after a look at the riddling room. Visitors describe a warm, unhurried welcome, and the shop stocks the full range, from vermouth and chinato to metodo classico.