Marchesi di Barolo

Carlo Tancredi Falletti (1782-1838) was born in Turin at Palazzo Barolo, and Juliette Colbert (1785-1864), a great-niece of the finance minister of Louis XIV, was born in Maulévrier in the Vendée. They married at Versailles on 18 August 1806 and in 1814 moved to Turin, where Juliette took the Italian name Giulia. Marchesi di Barolo's own history holds that before the Falletti era the wine made from Nebbiolo was sweet and sparkling, that the wine took its full-bodied, stable character thanks to an intuition of Marchesa Giulia, and that she built new cellars to make wine in large casks, protected from the cold of late autumn. Giulia left her belongings, including the cellars in Barolo, to Opera Pia Barolo, the charity she had founded. In 1929 Pietro Abbona took over the cellars together with his brother Ernesto and his sisters Marina and Celestina, and the family moved into the historic Cascina del Pillone, which became their home and workplace.

• Before 1929, the Cav. Felice Abbona e Figli winery was already making Barolo in the town of Barolo
• 1950: Marchesi di Barolo purchased the Castello della Volta, the castle above the town that was once the home of Juliette Colbert Falletti
• 1973: at Gino Veronelli's invitation, cru Barolos were made in the cellars respecting single-vineyard purity: Cannubi, Coste di Rose and Sarmassa
• 1996: the restaurant La Foresteria opened on the historic premises
• 2002: Marchesa Giulia's five historic oak casks were restored and returned to use for Barolo
• 2016: the winery took over Cascina Bruciata, a historic estate in Barbaresco; 2022: it took over Cascina Colombera, a historic estate in Perno

The winery is run by Ernesto and Anna Abbona together with their children Valentina and Davide, and the family counts six generations of winemaking.

• Ernesto and Anna Abbona, with their children Valentina and Davide
• The family dates its ownership of the historic cellars to the 1929 purchase

Marchesi di Barolo has vineyards in the town of Barolo, in the Langhe, in Roero and in Monferrato Nicese. The winery sits in the heart of the town of Barolo, surrounded by higher hills, on predominantly clay and limestone soil. Each vineyard is harvested separately, at different times if elevation or exposure requires it. Some crus are vinified separately and bottled with their geographic mention, such as Barolo Cannubi and Barbaresco Serragrilli; the rest are blended for the classic labels, including Barolo del Comune di Barolo, Barolo and Barbaresco Riserva, and Barolo and Barbaresco della Tradizione. As of 2015, the estate grew grapes in the Muscatel area as well as in the central Cannubi zone.

• Cannubi: the long, gradually rising hill in the centre of the Barolo area, where Serravallian and Tortonian soils meet in bluish-gray marls locally called Toû; 275-320 m, facing east, south-east and south
• Sarmassa: a south-east-facing hillside with a good slope, on predominantly silt-clay soil, very firm, with a significant percentage of stones; 270-285 m
• Coste di Rose: a hill in the municipality of Barolo fully exposed to the east, with a slope of more than 40% and soil rich in quartz sand and very fine silt; 280-310 m
• Serragrilli: a gentle hill in the municipality of Neive, exposed to the south-west, with the vineyard on the upper part of the hill up to the crest

The range covers Barolo, Barbaresco, Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, Arneis and Moscato, grouped into lines. The I Cru Storici line holds Barolo Cannubi, Sarmassa, Sarmassa 10 years and Coste di Rose, Barbaresco Serragrilli, Nebbiolo d'Alba Roccheri, Barbera d'Alba Superiore Peiragal, Dolcetto d'Alba Bossèt, the Nizza Vinearei and the Langhe Sauvignon La Volta. Barolo del Comune di Barolo is made from grapes grown in the winery's Cru Storici vineyards in the municipality of Barolo. The Riserva and Tradizione lines cover Barolo and Barbaresco; Le Selezioni includes Nebbiolo d'Alba Michet, Barbera d'Alba Ruvei, Barbera d'Asti Rurè, Piemonte Grignolino, Dolcetto d'Alba Madonna del Dono, Roero Arneis, Gavi and Gavi del Comune di Gavi, and the Alba DOC Pi Cìt. The Bric Amel line includes a Langhe Nebbiolo and a Langhe white from Arneis, Chardonnay and Sauvignon, and the Fine Pasto line includes the Moscato d'Asti Zagara and Canelli, Barolo Chinato and Grappa di Barolo.

• Barolo Cannubi, Sarmassa and Coste di Rose and Barbaresco Serragrilli: 100% Nebbiolo, 14% alcohol, from Guyot-pruned vines
• Vinearei (Nizza DOCG): 100% Barbera, hand-harvested in mid-September, with maturation partly in French oak barriques and partly in Slavonian oak barrels, at least 18 months in all in the cellar
• Pi Cìt (Alba DOC): Nebbiolo 70% and Barbera 30%, vinified together, with at least 9 months in wood, partly in barriques and partly in 30 hl Slavonian oak barrels
• Langhe Sauvignon La Volta: 100% Sauvignon Blanc from vineyards at 410 m

Marchesi di Barolo describes a focus on specific management for each vineyard parcel and a winemaking principle of using the grapes separately, 'in order to keep their characteristics intact.' Its notes give the Cannubi scents of rose, vanilla, spices and roasted nuts with soft, enveloping tannins; the Sarmassa dog rose, vanilla, liquorice and spices with prominent tannins; and the Coste di Rose rose, liquorice, spices and aromatic herbs, especially wild mint.

• Separate harvests by vineyard, timed to differences in elevation and exposure
• Separate vinification for some crus, blending for the classic labels

The cellars where the winery ages its wines today are the same ones its history credits to Marchesa Giulia Falletti Colbert, and her five centuries-old casks, the 'Botti della Marchesa', remain in use after restoration. A collection of Barolo riserva, from vintages going back to the end of the 19th century to the most recent, is kept in the cellars. Above the town stands the Castello della Volta, whose first mentions date to 1200 and which became the home of the Falletti family; Marchesi di Barolo purchased it in 1950, and consolidation and restoration works began in 2016. The historic cellars at Via Roma 1 in Barolo are open every day from 10.30 to 18.00.

• Historic cellars: Via Roma 1, 12060 Barolo (CN)
• Restaurant La Foresteria on the historic premises since 1996

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://marchesibarolo.com/en/company, https://marchesibarolo.com/en/history, https://marchesibarolo.com/en/territory, https://marchesibarolo.com/en/castle, https://marchesibarolo.com/en/visits, and the site's page data, https://marchesibarolo.com/_nuxt/static/1792511668/en/wines/state.js and https://marchesibarolo.com/_nuxt/static/1792511668/en/company/state.js. Secondary source: Decanter (Chris Mercer, last updated 10 August 2015). Last verified 2026-10-20. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.