Massolino

One of the best winemakers in Barololand

The Massolino surname is synonymous with Vigna Rionda, one of the most famous and sought-after crus of Barolo and part of the name of the family winery. Founded in 1896 by Giovanni Massolino, the first wine cellars of the family were owned by Giuseppe, the son of Giovanni, who not only became one of the founding fathers of the Consorzio Barolo and Barbaresco, but also began buying prime vineyards in the Serralunga D'Alba growing area. The expansion continued with Giuseppe's children, who acquired plots of the most prestigious Serralunga crus: Margheria, Parafada and Vigna Rionda. Until the end of World War II, the family sold the wine in bulk, but in 1947 they began selling their first bottled Barolo wine.

The next important stage in the Massolino success story was the entry of the brothers Franco and Roberto in 1999. Together they now run the family business, which has its headquarters in the recently renovated wine cellars in Serrallunga D 'Has Alba's historic center. While Franco and Roberto have always respected the tradition of Barolo, they have also experimented with winemaking and aging of Barolo that purists would consider controversial. They used rotary fermenters on the Barbera and Dolcetto to extract more color and tannin and aged their best Barbera in barriques, as did the Barolo Parafada.
However, from 2006 the brothers decided to refine all their Barolo wines to restore it in the classic style. According to Franco, this decision was made because the brothers only wanted to produce wines that they really love themselves and not what the market supposedly expects or demands.
Although the winery does not yet have organic certification, it practices integrated viticulture and does not use fungicides, herbicides or pesticides. Franco is convinced that all the improvements in Barolo production over the years have been due to the intensive Care of the vineyards are due.
In order to emphasize the characteristics of the individual layers, all Barolos from Massolino single layers are fermented in glass-lined concrete tanks and then matured in large Slovenian oak barrels. Today the company produces four Barolo and one Barolo Riserva, all of which express their terroir in an exemplary manner.