Piedmont's famed wine estate Fontanafredda will be auctioned off in the first months of next year, the Monte Paschi di Siena (MPS) bank, the current owner, has confirmed.
"The auction will be completed in the first months of 2007. MPS will retain ownership of the Poggio Bonelli and Villa Chigi Saracini vineyards in Chianti," bank president Fabio Mussari said.
The Fontanafredda winery includes some 80 hectares of vineyards in the Langhe area of the northwest Italian region where it produces such well-known red wines as Barolo, Dolcetto d'Alba, Barbaresco and Barbera d'Alba, as well as white wines and a host of distilled grappas.
Insiders believe the auction will primarily be between the Campari group, Gruppo Italiano Vini and the Reina family's Corvo SpA.
The sale of Fontanafredda is the first operation of MPS's major reorganization and rationalization campaign which involves the sale on non-strategic assets.
The estate was established in 1858 by Sardinia's King Vittorio Emanuele, later Italy's first king, for his illegitimate children Emanuele Guerrieri and Maria Victoria.
Twenty years later, Emanuele Guerrieri turned it into a successful winery by applying the latest wine-making techniques to produce quality wines, primarily Barolo, which is today still considered one of Italy's best wines.
MPS acquired the estate in 1931 and continued to expand it, acquiring other vineyards both inside and outside the region.
Today Fontanafredda has an annual turnover of 30 million euros and produces some 6.5 million bottles of red wine as well as Asti Spumante sparkling white wine and grappa.
