Langhe · Winery · Curated profile

Marcalberto

Marcalberto

Marcalberto is a small family estate in the historic centre of Santo Stefano Belbo, in the Langa Astigiana. Piero Cane started the project in the early 1990s, making the first vintage, 866 bottles of Pinot Noir, in a cellar in Barbaresco lent by his mother-in-law Caterina Rivella, to whom the estate is dedicated. His sons Marco and Alberto, whose names form Marcalberto, now run production, with their mother Marina holding the business together. The wines age in a cellar dug into tuff in the early 1800s, and the vineyards, within 10 km of the winery, range from 250 to 620 metres. The estate works almost entirely in Metodo Classico, mostly Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from marl and limestone soils, pressed on a rare Coquard "Marmonnier" press from Champagne and aged for years on the lees, unfiltered and unclarified. Santo Stefano Belbo is the birthplace of writer Cesare Pavese, in a vineyard landscape on the UNESCO World Heritage list since 2014.

At a glance

Region
Langhe, Piemonte, Italy
Address
Via Porta Sottana, 9, 12058 Santo Stefano Belbo (CN)
Winemaker
Marco and Alberto Cane
Tours
Available
Tastings
Available
Wines listed
10
Website
https://www.marcalberto.it/

Visits & tastings

Visits here are personal: there is no fixed tasting menu or price list, each visit is tailored to the guest, so get in touch ahead of time to arrange a tour and tasting of the cellar.

Tours

  • Cellar tour and tasting · tailored to each guest · no fixed menu or price list

Good to know

  • By appointment only, contact the estate in advance to arrange a visit

Contact

Wines from Marcalberto

  • Asti Metodo Classico: Asti DOCG Metodo Classico Dolce, Moscato Bianco 100%, Sparkling. Marcalberto's Asti Metodo Classico is a sweet sparkling wine made purely from Moscato Bianco, reviving the pre-Martinotti tradition of a second fermentation in bottle, made to be lively rather than cloying.
  • Blancdeblancs: Alta Langa DOCG, Chardonnay 100%, Sparkling. Blancdeblancs is Marcalberto's 100% Chardonnay Metodo Classico, made pas dosé to show the terroir of the estate's "white lands" in the Langa Astigiana. It won Gambero Rosso's Tre Bicchieri award in 2021.
  • Caterina Rivella: Alta Langa DOCG Riserva, Pinot Nero, Chardonnay, Sparkling. Caterina Rivella is Marcalberto's Alta Langa DOCG Riserva, a Pinot Nero and Chardonnay blend from the estate's highest vineyards, aged at least 60 months on the lees and 12 months after disgorgement, named for the…
  • Caterina Rivella Rosato: Alta Langa Rosato DOCG Riserva, Pinot Nero, Chardonnay, Sparkling. Caterina Rivella Rosato is the rosé counterpart of Marcalberto's tribute Riserva, an Alta Langa DOCG Rosato Riserva coloured with a touch of skin-contact Pinot Nero and aged at least 60 months on the lees before a long…
  • LavorareStanca: Piemonte DOC Pinot Nero, Pinot Nero 100%, Red. LavorareStanca, named after Cesare Pavese's work, is Marcalberto's only still wine, a 100% Pinot Nero vinified red mainly to be blended into the Rosé Metodo Classico, with a small part bottled on its own.
  • Millesimato Extra Brut: Alta Langa DOCG, Pinot Nero, Chardonnay, Sparkling. Millesimato Extra Brut is Marcalberto's single-vintage Alta Langa DOCG, made each year from an internal selection of that harvest's best musts and aged at least 36 months on the lees. The current tech sheet is for the…
  • Nature: Alta Langa DOCG, Pinot Nero 100%, Sparkling. Nature is Marcalberto's 100% Pinot Nero Metodo Classico made with no added sulphites, the result of years of experimentation and the first Italian Metodo Classico sparkling wine of its kind produced in series.
  • Rosé: Metodo Classico, Pinot Nero, Chardonnay, Sparkling. Marcalberto Rosé is a Metodo Classico sparkling wine from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, coloured with a small addition of red wine rather than skin contact, a technique more common in France.
  • S.R.: Metodo Classico, Pinot Nero, Chardonnay, Sparkling. S.R. (Sboccatura Recente) is a limited re-release of Marcalberto's single-vintage Millesimato, made only in the best years and aged more than nine years on the lees before a further year of maturation after…
  • Sansannée: Metodo Classico, Pinot Nero, Chardonnay, Sparkling. Sansannée, French for "without a year", is Marcalberto's multi-vintage Metodo Classico, a variable blend of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from several harvests meant to show the estate's consistent house style.