Cordero di Montezemolo – Azienda Agricola Monfalletto

Cordero di Montezemolo’s History and Philosophy

Cordero di Montezemolo is an important name in contemporary Italy, from an economic, political, social and also in the world of wine. In the latter case, not only for a matter of logic, but also of history. The members of the family are descendants of the Marchesa Giulia Falletto , who owned a very large part of what is now the most famous and prestigious wine production area in Italy, Barolo . The name Falletto, in fact, is part of the name of an entire town, Castiglione Falletto , and the marquise’s domains are sprinkled with castles that testify to the power and influence that the family once owned and exercised. 

A generation ago, in the 60s and 70s, the patriarch of the time, together with a few other forward-looking people, were leaders in the movement that made Barolo a more accessible, flexible wine with a wider presence of fruit, but without any desire , which would be futile, to make it a wine easy to drink, something that the power and intensity of the Nebbiolo grape would make it as difficult as one of the twelve labors of Hercules.

The wines of Cordero di Montezemolo

The current generation, Giovanni Cordero di Montezemolo and his children, continued on this path but with greater moderation; once aged in barrels, the house’s Barolo Monfalletto , almost 50 thousand bottles a year, is currently aged both in cask and in barrel. Barbera d’Alba and Chardonnay have also aged in barrels , but the influence of oak is in this case much more subtle, much more hinted than perceived, and here too the balance is much better.

In addition to the regular bottling of Barolo, the house, as is the current custom in the area, has two offers from a single vineyard in the line. One, Bricco Gattera , which shows the characteristic finesse, fragrance and silkiness of an excellent Barolo from the town of La Morra, a wine that has also contributed to giving a new luster and fame to the same cru. Stronger and more intense, Barolo Enrico VI , even if it does not bear the name of its vineyard, is an exemplary demonstration of why, for almost half a century, since the first map of the denomination of Renato Ratti, Villero is considered one of the best vineyards of Barolo. 

Barolo Enrico VI