Fontanafredda exudes Barolo history.

In 1878, it became the very first house to specialize in Barolo. And 86 years later, it became a pioneer of single-vineyard Barolo, producing as many as eight different single-cru bottlings in the 1970s.

Today, the range of single-cru Fontanafredda Barolos has been reduced to four. Three of these—La Villa, La Rosa and Lazzarito La Delizia—are venerable and deservedly famous. The fourth isn’t known at all, because its first vintage was 2013. But it promises to become every bit as prized as its predecessors.

Lost Cru

This new single-vineyard Barolo, Proprietà in Fontanafredda, is from a wholly owned cru on the Fontanafredda estate in Serralunga. The site is steep, south-to-southwest-facing.

Straddling Power & Finesse

Antonio Galloni has called Fontanafredda’s Barolo holdings "some of the most prized vineyards in all of Piedmont." And with the exception of La Villa in Barolo, all lie in a narrow valley, majestically surrounding the winery at Serralunga’s northern end.

When most of us hear the name “Serralunga,” we think of powerfully structured and long-lived Barolo—a character born of the commune’s compact, marl-based soil dating from the Helvetian period.

But the Helvetian soils end part way through the Fontanafredda valley, where they merge into the Tortonian-epoch clay soils that bless the communes of Barolo and La Morra to the west.

Proprietà in Fontanafredda lies directly on this line. Consequently, this site uniquely combines the longevity and power of Serralunga with the finesse and perfume of the wines of Barolo and La Morra.

An Eye to Tradition

Fontanafredda’s longtime winemaker Danilo Drocco handles the site’s perfectly balanced fruit with a sensitivity to Fontanafredda’s historic legacy. The wine’s Old-School fermentation and maceration lasts a very long 30-45 days, followed by two years aging in traditional medium to large barrels.

The result is a complete Barolo of nuance and elegance, yet with the depth and structure to age with ease.  It's an important new expression of Barolo in its first vintage.