Time seems to stand still at Relais Le Marne a Mura Mura in Costigliole d’Asti in the heart of Piedmont, where the grape vines of Langhe and Monferrato merge at the bottom of a verdant valley. Orchards and streams line the landscape littered with fallen fruit. One can’t help but pick up a plum and take a bite, in an area so peaceful and entrenched in history that it’s UNESCO protected. In a wooden house overlooking more than 30 lush hectares of the estate, couples are sipping on barbera, nebbiolo, ruché, grignolino and moscato and indulging in local cheeses, in a suspended, contemporary wooden house.
In these lands is where Turin native Guido Martinetti and his childhood friend Federico Grom decided to start a gelato business, investing 32,500 euros apiece, centered around the idea that flavors should be based on seasonal fruit. Fast-forward to 20 years later, their business spread well beyond their wildest dreams — from Turin to Dubai and from Tokyo to New York — and was later bought by Unilever.
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With those winnings Martinetti decided to realize a childhood dream, following in his dad’s footsteps, first founding a winery called Mura Mura and later establishing a refuge on this precious site, where the echoes of the region’s humbler past surround its rooms, restaurant, and sports and spa areas.
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Before the region rose to one of the world’s hottest wine destinations in the ’70s, it was a World War II hub of the partisan resistance and long before that, it endured years of poverty and a feudal farming system in which foraging was a mode of survival for its inhabitants. Perhaps the most vivid depiction came from local novelist and poet Cesare Pavese, who wrote “La Luna e I Falò” (“The Moon and the Bonfires”) about a local man who returns home after the war from America, to face bitter truths.
“My family is Piedmontese, and I appreciate every aspect of Piedmont’s history, which has made it a land of sober elegance, privacy and at the same time delicate hospitality,” Martinetti says, adding that the windows of the structure cornice the views like art. “From the windows of Le Marne you can admire the vineyards that have made Piedmont famous throughout the world and the mountain ranges where Monviso and Monte Rosa stand as protagonists: a majestic scenario that makes the soul of the spectator grateful to the one who created all this.
“Today I am therefore living a new chapter in my life together with my wife Martina. It’s very intense, exciting, fascinating,” Martinetti continues. Together, they sought to create a natural haven centered on the production of their winery and a rural oasis to raise a family.
Eating fresh-plucked produce and breathing fresh air is a priority for the entrepreneur, who reminisces about his adventures during the Grom years, in which he traveled as far afield as Madagascar to discover the world’s best vanilla pods.
The Relais Le Marne consists of two renovated farmhouses — the Dimora dei Poeti (Poets’ Residence) and the Dimora degli Artisti (Artists’ Residence) — with a total of 14 rooms, dedicated to the poetry of authors from the region and the works of contemporary artists, furnished in collaboration with local interpreters of design and Italian carpentry who, for example, take wood offcuts and turn them into something contemporary, like a pair of sculpted dice stools.
One of the larger suites is named “Come il Lamento del Bosco” (“Like the Forest’s Lament”), also by Pavesi and about the unheard trill of a nightingale. It has verses from the poem etched into custom-made furnishings, flanked by a B&B Italia Camaleonda sofa and with calming lighting throughout. Across the way, the Rigogolo Rosso deluxe room is adorned with cartoonish birds, inspired by Milanese artist Paolo Rui.
The Radici restaurant is located in an old winery and offers typical Piedmontese cuisine envisaged by the chef, Turin native Marco Massaia, who infuses his journeys to Asia and Australia into simple cuisine. Dishes such as frog morsels with sherry vinegar, cress and sour horseradish butter, and quail breast stuffed with foie gras propel these traditional concepts into a new millennium.
Another big draw, explains Martinetti, is the sports facilities. At the base of the Dimora dei Poeti there is a 25-meter indoor pool, suitable for swimming in all seasons, with a professional gym divided into three rooms and that features Technogym equipment and an incredible view of the vineyards below.
Le Marne has already hosted Ferrari F1 racing driver Charle Leclerc and Ironman World Champion, triathlete Sam Laidlow, Martinetti points out, adding that it is the perfect place for athletes to refuel and unwind. Looking toward the future, its management hopes to attract highly cultured international clientele, “people who love privacy, silence and the possibility of taking care of themselves together with those they love most.”
“Le Marne is a delicate place, where beauty envelops everything: it can elegantly welcome small weddings, professional athletes and amateurs who wish to carve out a space for themselves in which to reflect and take care of their body, and all those who wish to live a magnificent experience immersed in nature.”
