Luxury Hotels Atlas / Places / Italy / Serravalle Scrivia / Villa La Bollina
Villa La Bollina
Serravalle Scrivia, Italy · Independent · Near Luxury
A Liberty-style villa that the Figari marquises of Genoa built as their summer house in the hills behind the coast, now the hotel at the centre of a 120-hectare wine estate. Thirty-three of those hectares are vines, mostly Cortese for Gavi, with Barbera and Nebbiolo planted on the red earth toward Novi Ligure, and the cellar is a walk from the rooms. Tracce cooks Piedmontese; the Bistro pours the estate's own bottles on the park terrace. A golf course runs through the vineyards, and the Serravalle outlet is five minutes down the road.
- 12 rooms
About Villa La Bollina
- Three of the estate's wines carry labels designed as a tribute to the bicycle, a nod to Fausto Coppi and Costante Girardengo, both of them sons of this corner of Piedmont.
- The planting rules are strict: white grapes only on the marly clay of the southwest-facing slopes, reds only on the red soil of the hills nearer Novi Ligure, and almost all of those facing south.
- The villa sits inside the grounds of the Serravalle golf club, so guests can walk from their rooms to the tee.
History
Villa La Bollina is a Liberty-style noble residence in the hills of the Alto Monferrato, built as the summer house of the Figari marquises of Genoa. Genoese families held the property for something close to a century, coming inland for the season from the coast on the other side of the hills.
The villa was restored and turned into a four-star luxury hotel, keeping its period character while adding modern services: a conference centre in the adjoining grounds, a large seasonal outdoor pool, a bar and lounge, and round-the-clock room service. It is the flagship of three hospitality operations on the estate, the others being the modern Serravalle Golf Hotel and the Serravalle Golf Club. Dining runs on two levels, the Tracce restaurant for Piedmontese cooking with an international hand, and the Bistro La Bollina for aperitivi, tastings and local charcuterie and cheese on the Terrazza Parco, with breakfast and dinner moving outside in the warm months.
The agricultural business around it is the reason the place exists. The Societa Agricola La Bollina works 120 hectares of gently sloping land under vines and chestnut woods, with 33 hectares planted and a rebuilt cellar. The turning point for the wines came with the arrival of the oenologist Andrea Bernardini, at whose urging the cellar was renovated and the packaging reworked. The estate grows Cortese, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Barbera and Nebbiolo, and produces reds, whites, roses, sparkling and dessert wines, with Gavi DOCG as its calling card.
The setting
Serravalle Scrivia lies in the province of Alessandria, in the hills of the Alto Monferrato in Piedmont, on the inland side of the ridge that separates this country from the Ligurian coast, which is exactly why Genoese nobility built summer houses here. The estate sits inside the Gavi DOCG zone, the appellation behind Piedmont's best-known white, and its vineyards are divided by soil: marly clay on the southwest slopes for white grapes, red earth toward Novi Ligure for the reds. Chestnut woods cover much of the rest of the 120 hectares. These are cycling hills, the country of Fausto Coppi and Costante Girardengo, and the estate labels three of its wines in their honour. The Forte di Gavi is a few minutes away, the Serravalle Designer Outlet about five, and the vineyards are threaded with riding, walking and cycling routes as well as the golf course.
Restaurants and bars
- Ristorante Tracce — Restaurant
Amenities
- Cantina con degustazioni di vini
- Giardino
- Fontana con spazio per ricevimenti
- Cucina interna o collaborazione con catering della provincia
- Personale di assistenza durante il ricevimento
- Pasticceria per la torta nuziale
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