We met Denise Marrone and talked with her about many things“Tre Fie” in Piedmontese dialect means three daughters, namely Denise, Valentina and Serena. Together with their father Gian Piero, they are the owners ofAgricola “Gian Piero Marrone.” A family-run winery located in one of the most beautiful and evocative areas of the Langhe, Frazione Annunziata in La Morra.

Tre Fie is also the name of one of the most important wines for this winery, the “Tre Fie” Arneis that the Marrone family has been producing here for four generations now.

An all-female production that makes elegance, taste and style its strong points. Young age, numerous ideas, and being in a fantastic land with an optimal location for wine production, however, sometimes may not be enough. The pandemic has proven this, then it is necessary to know how to reinvent oneself. But around here there is no shortage of strength and determination, ever.

We thus had the pleasure of talking about this and more with Denise Marrone, one of the pillars of the company, a face of hospitality and a woman of a thousand and one ideas. With this interview, we also inaugurate a new “column” on our blog that we decided to simply title “People of Langa”.Producing good wine and knowing how to communicate it: here’s howTourin Vespa: “If you had to choose a wine that represents the Marrone family?”
Denise: “Theanswer is very simple: the Langhe Arneis ‘Tre Fie’: a straw-yellow wine, clear and elegant.”

It is no coincidence that yellow is the color of the mimosa, the flower that accompanies Women’s Day. “Our being all women, all sisters ,” Denise continues, ” has helped us in giving an identity to our family business, not only in taste, but also in style and elegance, traits that we have tried to bring back in our communication.

TIV: “Speaking of communication, after four generations there must have been a number of changes, especially in the last year with the pandemic affecting us, what strategies have you used?

Denise: “We have had several changes throughout our history especially in the last two generations, let’s call them epochal, but all of them were intentional except this one. We were thinking of just making good wine, and we were in such a fast-changing situation that we had to turn a lot of things upside down. We planned to give the right space to social and communicate our brand, but with the right time. I’m not saying it’s not the right way to go, but our market used to be something else, we used to supply restaurants for example, but with the closure and limitations of them we lost a good part of our market. We opened a site and started using social media in a more professional way, and luckily there was a great response. “A tradition that has continued for four generations and thousands of clients from all over the worldOne of the most engaging and interesting aspects of this job is meeting clients, establishing a relationship of friendship and trust with them as well. Which is renewed year after year, bottle after bottle. With the pandemic, things have changed, but the customer still remains at the center of everything. Also and especially online. And Denise, along with her sisters, realized long ago how much of a difference digital technologies can make.

Denise: “Among our clients we always had people who were a bit advanced in age, and we could not expect them to learn how to use social media or how to buy online. It was always our choice, we liked to get to know our customers, talk to them and see each other. Unfortunately,this “human” supplier/consumer side that we had is being lost by the pandemic.
You also have to be honest, and until some time ago I would never have thought of using drones for a commercial and that it would then be broadcast to Malta to raise awareness of Barolo in the Langhe, so obviously the strategies we chosepaid off.”

TIV: “In this last period, TV, and the media in general, have covered gastronomy and enology a lot thanks to various top programs such as Masterchef or Four Restaurants.”

Denise: “Of course, we have noticed it too, television has helped us a lot, and it has helped our market. A kind of community has formed, people talk and like to learn. We like to tell, and we have had great feedback in our services that we do at the winery. We organize tastings, tours, courses, and viticulture classes. The kids came a lot in this direction, we had several groups around 20 years old who wanted to drink for taste and not for a more goliardic sense. “The Marrone family’s passion for wine and its land-the LangheTIV: “The Langhe is recognized as the land of good wine, if not the best. Tell us a little about your relationship with this land?”

Denise: “We owe so much to this land, it helped us a lot during the pandemic to be able to work amidst green, wide-open spaces. We imagine who, and how much, suffered lockdown in enclosed, tight, small spaces. Organizations and mayors have enhanced this area a lot by organizing fairs and events. People then couldn’t take the usual vacation, not being able to move much maybe decided to take a trip to the Langhe, and of course they fell in love with it.”

TIV: “Can 2021 be the breakthrough year, for you and the whole industry?”

Denise: “I can say that 2021 started very well, the weather condition was the best: cold, snow, rain, sunshine, all the seasonal climates were met. We have beautiful grapes, and we focus a lot on whites, but of course also on Barolo.”

TIV: “What if I asked you to recommend some wines from your winery?”

Denise: “I recommend four wines, from four different vintages, namely:

• Barolo Bussia, 2016, 100% Nebbiolo (Lampia and Michet varieties)
• Langhe Sancarlo, 2017, (70% Nebbiolo, 20% Barbera, 10% Dolcetto)
• Langhe Chardonnay, 2018, Memundis (100% Chardonnay)
• Langhe Arneis, 2019, Tre Fie (100% Arneis).”

The Langhe is a wonderful place, and with this interview Denise reaffirmed that once again. He also explained to us how a family business with a 100-year tradition has been able to reinvent itself and revise its business according to the major changes that this past year has forced upon us.

For sure, the best thing to do is to visit the Marrone Farm in person. Denise will welcome you as she has done for several years now to accompany you on an experience that is not only a way to learn more about the wine, but toappreciate the people who work in the vineyard and winery. Just as his family has done for four generations.

We also suggest a Vespa tour that passes through La Morra and Denise’s winery, where you can have lunch and taste their wines. It is the“His Majesty of the Langhe: Barolo on a Vespa” tour.

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