The historic winery of Marchesi Alfieri is located in the castle of San Martino Alfieri, in Piedmont, in the rolling hills between Asti and Alba. It's a very old castle this one of Marchesi Alfieri, which dates back to the Middle Ages; the first owners were the Solero, who in 1696 gave the property to the Marchesi Alfieri, who transformed the fortress into a sumptuous baroque castel. In 1720 was built the Orangerie, a beautiful winter garden, while the last major intervention in the castle was carried out in 1820 by Ernesto Melano, architect of Carlo Alberto of Savoy. Important characters have been part of the noble family, as the poet Vittorio Alfieri, and the statesman Cesare Alfieri, who collaborated in the drafting of the Albertine Statute of 1848. A fact of great importance occurred when a grandson of Count Camillo Benso di Cavour, Giuseppina Cavour, married the Marquis Carlo Alfieri: Cavour will be very active in the cultivation of grapes in Piedemont, introducing for the first time in San Martino the French grape Pinot Noir. In 1982, the Marquis Casimiro San Martino di San Germano, cousin of the Alfieri family, inherited the property and with great enthusiasm and tenacity, is dedicated, together with his daughters, to the revival of a modern wine production. Today the vineyard area is 21 hectares, with vines that reach more than 70 years of age. The main grape is Barbera: in particular, the vineyard where it was born the Alfiera, was planted in 1937 and today is conducted under organic method.
