Based in the hamlet of Perno, Mario and Luisa Fontana are the sixth generation to farm their family vineyards. The Fontana family has been producing wine from Castiglione Falletto in Barolo since 1820. With roots this deep, tradition is at the heart of everything Mario, Luisa, and their son Vasco put into their winemaking.

Mario first began bottling under his own name in the 1995 vintage in order to craft wines in the style of his grandfather, Saverio Fontana. Always considering himself a traditionalist, Mario was skeptical of the changing winds in Barolo in the 1990s. At a time when modern styles of winemaking were rapidly gaining acclaim, Mario felt that the truest representation of his land remained in the style of farming and winemaking that had been done for generations, long before the name Barolo was famous or profitable.

Along with his son Vasco, today Mario farms vineyards in Monforte d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto, La Morra, and Sinio. As always, there is no great wine without maximum care in the vineyard and the Fontanas farm beautifully. In the cellar, only traditional vessels are used. For their Barolo, Fontana uses submerged-cap maceration techniques in cement tanks followed by aging in large botti.

The Fontana wines are all made come una volta — ‘as it was in the past’. To drink these wines is to drink the Fontana family history. Their story is preserved through the care of old family vineyards with winemaking techniques that remain unchanged from when Mario’s grandfather worked the same vines.