Marrone
Barolo – 2016
Region: italy - piedmont
Marrone
The origins of Agricola Marrone date back over a century and through four generations where the family has focused on cultivating local grape varietals with a passionate commitment and dedication to the land.
In 1978 ‘Gianpi’ took over full management of Marrone and began a phase of expansion in the vineyards and the cellar space. His wife Giovanna, affectionately known as “Mamma Gio,” orchestrates private hospitality and is the kitchen director. For Giovanna, food is “tradition and Italian values that go hand with our wines.”
When Pietro Marrone was born in 1887, his father Edoardo was already producing wines. In 1910, at 23 years old, he asked his father to plant some vineyards. In the early 1920s/30s the winery began cultivating vineyards using techniques that were revolutionary at the time: reducing production yields to prioritize higher quality and avoiding sowing wheat between vine rows, a standard practice at the time. This decision was an early adoption of what eventually became known as modern cultivation practices widely used in the region today.
Since 2011 the winery has been run by “Tre Fie,” the three daughters of Gian Piero and Giovanna Marrone. Valentina is the winemaker, Serena runs marketing and business operations, and Denise is the hospitality heart and manager of the visitor programs and restaurant. The farm is run with minimal intervention in the vineyard, a philosophy that carries through from harvest to winemaking. The Marrone family pays careful attention to produce wines that are elegantly structured with the potential to evolve for decades.
Reviews
92 Points
Lots of strawberries and cherries with some dried-flower aromas and flavors. Medium to full body, round tannins and a fresh finish. Nice, fruity wine with ripe tannins. Drink now.
jamessuckling.com, August, 2020
16+ Points
Sour-cherry nose and a minty, herbal freshness. Tastes a little closed. As if it’s in a little bit of a teenage sulk right now, acting out tough and not trying to please. Sun-dried tomatoes and quite a bit of skinny sharpness, leaving the chalky tannins and the leather and wood spice all sounding a bit loud and shouty. Rusty nail and sour finish. Close the door, tiptoe back downstairs, and leave it to play head-banging music until its hormones settle down… (It does relax a bit with time in glass, so decanting will help if you’re drinking this young. Tasted June 2020)
JancisRobinson.com, June, 2020
90 Points
The classic Barolo from the Marrone family offers more linearity and focus in this vintage compared to 2015. The Gian Piero Marrone 2016 Barolo opens to dark, plummy fruit and sweet spice with shadings of tar and toasted aniseed. I am less impressed by the short length and mild impact of the mouthfeel, especially in a vintage that is universally recognized for its direct and linear intensity. This is an easy, near-term Barolo. 2022 – 2033
© Wine Advocate, July, 2020
92 Points
The 2016 Barolo normale bottling from the Marrone Sisters is a lovely wine, coming in at 14.3 percent octane and offering up a superb bouquet of red and black cherries, camphor, pigeon, fresh oregano, rose petals, a complex base of soil, brown spices, a hint of cedar and a smoky topnote. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and seamlessly balanced, with a fine core, lovely soil undertow, ripe, buried tannins and a long, complex and very classy finish. This is a lovely bottle of Barolo. 2032 – 2085
View From The Cellar, November, 2022
