Zonin1821 moves into hotels

Zonin1821, the major Italian wine producer, has created a wine library concept for boutique hotels, the first being in Edinburgh which opened this week (October 10).

The Wine House Hotel 1821, a multi-storey Georgian town house in Edinburgh city centre, was developed in conjunction with Scottish restaurateur, Sep Marini. The interior was designed by architect Claudio Silvestrin.

The four-bedroom Wine House Hotel 1821 features a ‘Wine Library’ where guests and customers can taste, drink and buy some of Zonin’s top wines. There is a cocktail bar in the basement.

The company intends to open similar wine libraries globally starting with Sao Paulo, Brazil, in December, followed by another in Vienna.

Zonin1821 corporate export director, Alessandro Marchesan, said: “We are bringing our culture and experience to Edinburgh - and to anywhere where we open. The Wine Library is a place to come and enjoy our wines. You can taste or buy our wines.

“We hope to have winemakers come here for an event. Saturday afternoon maybe cookery. We want the Wine Library to become a social club,” said Marchesan.

Casa Vinicola Zonin has founded in 1821 in the Gambellara province of Vicenza. The company became Zonin1821 in 1921.  has approximately  2,000 hectares under vine, in nine estates situated in seven of  Italy’s finest wine regions. These include: Ca’ Bolani (1970), in Friuli,  Castello di Albola (1979), in  Chianti Classico. The following year, Abbazia Monte Oliveto, a wine farm in San Gimignano, the homeland of Vernaccia, became a part of the company’s expansion. The family’s vineyard holdings then spread to Piedmont with the acquisition of Castello del Poggio (1985), in the best area for the making of Asti and Barbera, and to Lombardy with the annexing of Tenuta Il Bosco (1987), a wine estate situated in the Oltrepò Pavese, a classic region for the Pinot Nero.

Then came Feudo Principi di Butera (1997) on Sicily and Masseria Altemura (2000)  in the Salento Peninsula, in Puglia and Rocca di Montemassi (1999) from the Maremma.

In 1976, Gianni Zonin bought the Barboursville Vineyards on the east coast of the US in Virginia. Zonin also has a joint venture with Maipo valley-based Viña Ventisquero.