Blog: Barolo | Classic (4)

Before the Romans, this area had belonged to the Ligurians, then to the Gauls; even in those ancient times viticulture had been practiced. The Romans knew Barolo quite well, because in order to imitate its typical tea aroma, they coated the wine amphorae with pitch, with the aim of giving less noble wines an albeit distant resemblance to genuine Baraolo.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the territory fell to the Carolingians. The Saracens, after landing in Liguria, advanced several times as far as Alba. Ruins of towers and castles built to protect against Saracen incursions can still be seen in various places.

Then, for several centuries, different rulers succeeded each other. First the Angevins, then the landgraves of Montefeltro, finally Luchino Visconti who took Alba and Barolo in 1347. Amadeus VI of Savoy, called the 'Red Count' and Amadeus VII, called the 'Green Count', expelled the Visconti. In 1480 the market counts Falletti were enfeoffed with these lands, which later fell to the Gonzaga family and finally in 1631, after the Treaty of Chierasco with Victor Amadeus I, they became definitively the property of the House of Savoy.

Falletti Castle, rebuilt at the beginning of the 19th century, now houses the permanent exhibition of local Barolo producers. The collection includes important oenological and wine-historical exhibits. In one room there are even some paintings by Massimo d'Azeglio. Next to it there is a room where Silvio Pellico lived for some time.

The future 'Martyr of the Spielberg' was in fact the secretary of the Countess of Barolo. Even then the vineyards enjoyed a good reputation, the wine was quite famous. It would never have occurred to anyone to divide up this agricultural property of great value. In 1864, when Giulietta Colbert di Maulevier, the last Market Countess of Barolo died, the entire land property was bequeathed to Opera Pia Barolo, which managed it prudently and successfully in 1919. It then became the property of the joint-stock company Vini Classici, which today calls itself the 'Antichi Poderi dei Marchesi di Barolo'.

The constant change of owners must have caused uncertainty and confusion in the area, fires, destruction, misery and sadness. But the love of the winegrowers for their vines was not affected. And also the respective rulers were so taken by the noble nectar that was pressed from it, that they were careful not to cause serious damage to the vine cultures. - Gerardo [TS03/23]