Fontanafredda is not only a great winery in the Langhe, but also a piece of Italian history and of Barolo history. The estate extends north of the Serralunga hill towards the plain. It was founded in 1858 by Vittorio Emanuele, who became the first King of Italy in 1961.
Vittorio Emanuele inherited the passion for wine from his father, Carlo Alberto and in Fontanafredda he began his wine production. The King’s lover Rosina and his illegitimate children made with her also lived in Fontanafredda. As long as Vittorio Emanuele lived, the wine produced in Fontanafredda was used exclusively for the consumption of the court. It was his son, Emanuele di Mirafiore, who created the Mirafiore winery, with which he started marketing the wines produced in Fontanafredda. Mirafiore’s Barolo was one of the first internationally known and prized Barolo.
Mirafiore came to employ more than 200 employees, who used to live within the estate where a school and a church were also created. Things changed with the First World War and a crisis bega to mount. After several changes of ownership, the glorious estate of Fontanafredda was in the hands of the Monte dei Paschi di Siena private bank. Only since 2006 it is back in the hands of a private entrepreneur, who is engaged to relaunch the company. This is Oscar Farinetti, the founder of Eataly.
Fontanafredda's new course aims to bring the company back to the glory of the past. Management is attentive to sustainability.