Giovanni Manzone
The story of the Manzone family
The history of this family-run winery goes back to the mid-19th century. However, it wasn't until 1965 that Giovanni Manzone, the father of the current owner Mauro, bottled the first wines. With great foresight, he also purchased historic vineyards in Monforte D'Alba, thereby setting the course for a successful future for the Manzone family business. In 2005, Mauro Manzone joined the company after successfully completing his studies at the famous oenology school in Alba. His path was already “mapped out” when his mother, who was heavily pregnant at the 1985 Nebbiolo harvest, suddenly went into labor. The harvest was stopped immediately, Mauro was then born healthy and 14 days later the harvest was successfully continued. This Barolo vintage was excellent and will always be fondly remembered by the family.
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Craft tradition and respect for nature
The Manzone family has an all-determining philosophy in their company: they personally oversee all work, from pruning to harvesting, from refining and maturing the wines to packaging each individual bottle. A traditional and artisanal style is their leitmotif, without shortcuts, with the utmost respect for what nature provides the cellar. Constant “listening” in the vineyards, followed by simple and real work in the cellar. A school of bygone times that gives each vine complete freedom to express itself depending on the season and its most authentic varietal characteristics. The property follows the principles of pure, natural and non-invasive agriculture and it No insecticides or fertilizers are and have never been used in the vineyard.
A winemaking without intervention
The grapes are harvested by hand, immediately delivered to the wine cellar and vinified, leaving some of the berries intact. Then spontaneous fermentation takes place with native yeasts and long maceration on the berry skins and seeds. Long fermentations accelerate the extraction of tannins, which can therefore be carried out in the gentlest possible way. No clarification or filtering is carried out and the wine is bottled with minimal use of sulfur. Then come long years of maturation and refinement in large oak barrels so that the wine can determine and complete its natural maturation process. A “non-intervention” winemaking that is fully aware of the exceptional nature of the Castelletto and Gramolere terroir and seeks to preserve and give to each naturally produced wine its inimitable identity and purity.
The high and extremely steep vineyards, Castelletto and Gramolere, which are up to 450 meters above sea level, promote natural, but also low-yielding vines. They produce wines that are accessible at a young age, but are still among the most concentrated and long-lasting of all Barolo wines in Piedmont.