About Marion
Marion is the Campedelli family's estate at San Martino Buon Albergo, in the Marcellise valley on the quieter eastern side of the Valpolicella hills. Stefano and Nicoletta Campedelli revived the property around Villa Marion, once the residence of Count Marioni, in the 1980s, and today work limestone rich soils that lend the reds an unusual mineral backbone. The house method is patient: a share of the grapes is often dried, fermentations are natural, and the wines rest around thirty months in cask, built to improve in bottle for two decades. Teroldego and Cabernet Sauvignon stand proudly beside the Valpolicella classics.
Prices are for take away and shipping. The wine bar serves from its own list.
The winery
About Marion
History
The Marion estate stands in Marcellise, a valley just east of Verona, in the commune of San Martino Buon Albergo. The seat is a fifteenth century villa that once belonged to the Conte Marioni. The Campedelli family bought it in 1986 and began bottling under their own name in 1995.
The land and the vineyards
The family farms about 22 hectares in the Marcellise valley. The soils are mostly calcareous, and the work in the vines follows sustainable practice, with a light hand in the cellar. The same ground gives the classic Valpolicella grapes and a few others that the family has planted over time.
The wines
Amarone della Valpolicella and Valpolicella Superiore are the wines that made the name, and critics have scored recent Amarone vintages in the low to mid 90s. Next to them sits Borgo Marcellise, a Valpolicella, and a few red wines from grapes outside the local tradition, among them a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Teroldego.
The first Marion wines were shaped with the advice of the enologist Celestino Gaspari, who had learned his trade beside Giuseppe Quintarelli, the master of traditional Amarone. That school explains the style: deep, dry and built for ageing.
Today
Stefano Campedelli, trained as a surveyor, runs the estate with his wife Nicoletta Fornasa and his brother Marco. It is still a family business, and visits are by appointment. Marion is a good choice for readers who want Amarone made in the old way from a producer outside the best known villages of the Classico zone.
- Founded
- Estate bought by the Campedelli family in 1986; first bottling 1995
- Vineyards (hectares)
- About 22
- Owners
- Stefano Campedelli, Nicoletta Fornasa and family