Fratelli Martini

Fratelli Martini: Tradition & Vision

The history of Fratelli Martini is deeply rooted in the hills of Cossano Belbo. Secondo and Laura Martini founded the winery in 1947, driven by the simple but powerful idea of vinifying the wine of their homeland with care and understanding. What began as a small family business grew over the following decades into a project that spanned generations. When her son Gianni Martini joined the company in the early 1970s, it began to look beyond the valley: he professionalised the business, further developed the quality lines and laid the foundations for the company's international presence. Today, Eleonora Martini continues this tradition. With analytical instinct and a modern view of wine and brand, she brings new impulses without losing the family core – the interplay of down-to-earthness, ambition and lived origins that characterises Fratelli Martini to this day.

La Zoccolaio: Modern accent

Cascina Lo Zoccolaio is a comparatively young chapter in the history of the estate. The Martini family has been running this winery in Barolo since the 1980s, giving it a clear, contemporary contour. Nestled in the iconic Nebbiolo hills, the vineyards cover around eleven hectares of predominantly Nebbiolo – mainly Nebbiolo, supplemented by Barbera, Dolcetto and international varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay. In the cellar, a style is created that combines powerful fruit and modern precision without ever drowning out the origin. The Barbera d'Alba Superiore Suculé, whose spiciness and density are interwoven with subtle woodwork, and the Baccanera, a finely proportioned cuvée of local and international grape varieties that combines dark fruit and elegant structure in a distinctive, almost Mediterranean style, are among the most characterful voices. Lo Zoccolaio shows how diversity and a terroir-influenced signature can go together – powerful, clear and at the same time carried by a distinguished elegance.

La Toledana – pure minerality

With Tenuta La Toledana, Fratelli Martini owns a historic vineyard in the heart of the Gavi di Gavi. The vines here are rooted in calcareous, well-drained soils that are influenced by the cooling influence of Liguria – a terroir that gives the indigenous Cortese grape the finesse for which Gavi is recognised worldwide. This origin finds its purest expression in the "La Toledana Vigne Rade" line: a Gavi DOCG of crystalline clarity, fine fruit, lively acidity and the saline tension that only great white wine sites can produce. Careful ageing in stainless steel preserves the delicate flavours and gives the wine a dancing elegance – a counterpoint to the more powerful voice of Lo Zoccolaio.

The promise of the family

"We think of wine not just in the glass, but in the hill, in the soil, in the light of an afternoon," says the Martini family. This attitude is more than just a nice thought, it is the invisible foundation that supports all the wines of the house. Every Barolo from Lo Zoccolaio, every Gavi from La Toledana, every bottle from one of the traditional estates tells precisely this story: of origin, of patience, of the conviction that wine is more than just a product.

Perhaps this is also the reason why the Martini family's wines have been finding their way into discerning wine shops for decades – not because they are loud, but because they convey something genuine. For those who don't just want to drink Piedmont, but want to understand it, this house is a constant. Its wines are not snapshots, but messages of a landscape that reveals itself anew in every vintage and yet always remains familiar. SUPERIORE.DE