The early years of the 20th century witnessed Giustino Ciavolich, one of Donna Ernestina and Giuseppe Ciavolich's three sons, play a leading role in the military world. He was sent to Pinerolo, a town in Piedmont internationally renowned for its National Riding School, and was a Cavalry Officer during the First World War. These were the years of the Bell'Époque, of the fox hunt in Rome, of the horse races in Piazza di Siena, of prestigious friendships such as that with Francesco Baracca, another Cavalry Officer, and they were also important for the project begun by Giustino to increase the size of the estate and enhance the value of the family's farming activity. The winery, built in 1853 by Don Ciccillo, was still up and running and the sequence of the seasons with the various activities in the vineyards dictated when the work was carried out.

The 1940s brought the Second World War and Giustino Ciavolich passed away in 1941, leaving his wife, Donna Giuseppina Berardi di Ortona, and two teenage children, Giuliana and Giuseppe Ciavolich. In October 1943, the Nazis occupied Palazzo Ciavolich, making it their headquarters and allowing the family and numerous residents of Miglianico to hide in the underground cellars dug into the sandstone, among the barrels that contained the newly-pressed wine from the recent grape harvest. The Germans hid their tanks on the first floor of the winery, so that they couldn't be reached by the aircraft sent in by the allies. The civilians resisted from October to December 1943. The SS moved in on the 8th of December, forcing all the refugees to evacuate the town in view of the imminent battle due to the progressive advancing of enemy troops from the south. The Ciavolich and Berardi families sought refuge first of all in the Palazzo in Chieti before moving to Macerata, in the Marches. They stayed there until the troops had moved on and until the end of the war. Giuseppe Ciavolich, then 14 years old, was the first to return home, alone and on foot, apart from the last few kilometres when, exhausted and discouraged, he was saved by a truck full of Canadian soldiers who offered him a lift as far as Pescara.