Fontanafredda – La Rosa Barolo – 2005

The history of Fontanafredda is a noble one. It began in 1858 after the unification of Italy, when the country’s first king, Vittorio Emanuele II, purchased this beautiful estate in Piedmont’s Langhe region. Here he started producing wine from native varietals, Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo, which later developed into a commercial business under the direction of the King’s son, Count Mirafiori. Fontanafredda released their first Nebbiolo labeled as Barolo with the 1878 vintage. The estate enjoyed incredible prosperity until just after the turn of the century, but the proceeding Phylloxera plague, the Great Depression and the World Wars took their toll on the business and the property was sold to Italy’s oldest bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena. Decades later in 2008, visionary businessman and Piedmont native, Oscar Farinetti, purchases a majority stake of the Fontanafredda estate and wineries, bringing new life into one of Italy’s most heralded properties.