Punset

The hill and the family tradition

The name Punset predates the commercial winery. The Counts of Castelborgo used this Piedmontese dialect word—meaning either “beautiful hill” or “point”—for the one estate that rose above the autumn fog and remained visible from their castle.

The hillside vineyards subsequently passed into the ownership of the Marcarino family. Winemaking continued for family consumption for an extended but undated period before the activity became a commercial enterprise.

1964: the first commercial bottles

In 1964, Renzo Marcarino formally established the business and released the first bottles bearing the Punset name. This year marks the beginning of Punset as a commercial winery, although the family’s vineyard ownership and domestic winemaking tradition were already established.

Marina Marcarino and the organic turning point

Marina Marcarino’s relationship with farming began in childhood. Her paternal grandmother took her into the countryside and introduced her to a culture governed by the seasons and the practical rhythms of working the land.

In 1982, Marina encountered organic agriculture and saw it as a more direct and authentic way to understand and work with the family vineyards. She initiated the conversion of the entire holding, abandoning pesticides and synthetic agricultural products. The decision was placed under organic certification from the outset.

The transition was severe: the first harvest was lost completely. Marina nevertheless maintained the course, refining the agronomic system from one year to the next. The conversion became the defining change in Punset’s modern development and established an approach based on permanent vineyard cover, limited mechanical disturbance, reduced copper and sulfur treatments, biodynamic preparations, and the restoration of a functioning vineyard ecosystem.

The same direction shaped the cellar. Concrete tanks retained a central role, fermentations relied on indigenous yeasts, work was coordinated with lunar phases, and extended maturation in wood—principally Slavonian oak—was followed by substantial bottle ageing.

2004: collaboration among organic growers

In 2004, Marina brought Punset together with other Italian wineries for which organic farming was a foundational commitment. The group established Vintesa Italian Wines, a consortium created to promote and communicate organic wine in Italy and abroad under the idea of cooperation among organic winegrowers.

Marina also became active in regional producer organizations, including the Consorzio Tutela Barolo Barbaresco e Vini d’Alba and Consorzio Albeisa. By 2021 she was serving as president of Albeisa while managing and owning Punset.

Energy, packaging, and hospitality developments

Solar thermal panels have supplied heating for more than a decade. A photovoltaic installation was also announced as the next stage of the estate’s energy program.

In 2021, Punset introduced a 5-litre Bag in Box for Neh! Langhe Rosso DOC in response to glass scarcity, rising material costs, and the environmental burden of conventional bottles. The format replaces the glass used for six bottles, reduces occupied space and weight by more than 20%, and was presented as capable of reducing lifecycle and reuse emissions by as much as 30%.

In 2023, a spacious tasting room opened in a renovated section of the farmhouse. Surrounded by vineyards, it overlooks Neive and the hills of the Langhe and Monferrato. Its terrace projects above an Arneis vineyard and supports outdoor tastings and producer-led sessions for groups.

Punset’s entire agricultural holding was converted to organic farming in 1982 under Marina Marcarino. Pesticides and synthetic agricultural products were removed from the system, and certification governed the conversion from its beginning. Current wines are identified as certified organic, with Ecogruppo Italia named as certifier.

The first crop under the new approach was lost completely. Marina persisted, adjusting and improving the techniques with each subsequent season. Her agronomy aims to reduce copper- and sulfur-based treatments to a minimum and gives preference to biodynamic preparations. The broader conceptual influence is Masanobu Fukuoka’s philosophy of the “agriculture of not doing,” understood as minimizing unnecessary intervention and working with natural processes.

All vineyard floors are grassed. Mechanical cultivation of the soil is limited, helping preserve the surrounding environment and reduce disturbance. Environmental repopulation has restored a more balanced ecosystem in which spontaneous flowering plants, insects, and wild animals support vineyard fertility.

Estate fruit is carefully selected. Harvesting practices described for the wines include picking by hand into perforated crates, protecting the grapes during transport to the cellar. Winemaking by-products are recovered as part of the environmental program.

The cellar follows a traditional, low-intervention approach intended to carry the character of the vineyards into the finished wines. Fermentation relies on indigenous yeasts and the winery works without commercial enzyme additions. Estate red wines are described as fermenting spontaneously in concrete tanks.

Concrete remains a principal cellar material and is used both for fermentation and, where appropriate, maturation. Cellar operations are coordinated with lunar phases. Wines intended for extended maturation spend long periods in wood, predominantly traditional Slavonian oak barrels, followed by bottle ageing of broadly comparable duration.

Harvesting and reception practices described across the range include manual picking into perforated crates and careful selection. Depending on the cuvée, cellar work may involve destemming, spontaneous fermentation, pump-overs, délestage, submerged-cap fermentation, malolactic fermentation, soft pressing, lees ageing with bâtonnage, concrete maturation, large traditional barrels, and extended bottle rest. These operations are adjusted to the character of the grape and vintage rather than imposed as one uniform recipe.

Winemaking by-products are recovered within the estate’s environmental program.

Marina Marcarino’s guiding objective is to produce wine in complete harmony with nature. Organic certification is not treated as a marker for a marginal or “special” category of producer; she considers it an additional guarantee of quality and consumer protection.

Her ambition is to engage directly with conventionally produced wine and demonstrate that high achievement is compatible with respect for nature, the environment, and human well-being. She describes organic farming as a personal decision that can be difficult and discouraging, but finds renewed confidence in the vineyards and surrounding hills.

The relationship between grower and vineyard is conceived as one of mutual respect. Naturalness is therefore both an agricultural method and a vocation. The influence of Fukuoka’s “agriculture of not doing” encourages minimum disturbance, close observation, and reliance on a functioning ecosystem.

In the cellar, the corresponding principle is to let the vineyard speak. Indigenous fermentations, concrete tanks, lunar timing, traditional oak maturation, and long bottle ageing are used to preserve the relationship between fruit and place.

Collaboration is another central value. Marina’s work with Consorzio Tutela Barolo Barbaresco e Vini d’Alba, Consorzio Albeisa, and Vintesa Italian Wines combines innovation with respect for regional traditions. She also seeks to pass her experience to younger generations and encourage them to commit themselves to careful, natural work.