The History

Borgo Bardolino, an old productive palace court, is located near the southern side of the ancient Bardolino fortress.
The south side of the ancient city walls, which includes Palazzo Guerrieri, was inhabited since 1300, when it belonged to the Visconti family, the Nobles of Milan from 1277 to 1395.

In 1370 the Venetian Republic, defeating the Duchy of Milan in the “Battle of Garda”, took possession of the town but sold just a little beyond the wall to the noble Fermi and Pellegrini families. Today’s Palazzo Guerrieri and the adjacent buildings were purchased in 1450 by Marchesi Rambaldi, direct ancestor of the current owners.

Members of the Rambaldi family had a major involvement in the history of the western shore of Lake Garda such as lake captains, commissioned directly from Venice to govern this region, intellectuals and poets. The last descendant of the family, Maria Teresa Antonia Rambaldi, married Count Agostino Guerrieri in 1790. The Bardolino residence and all pertaining estates thus passed onto the Guerrieri family, originating from Fermo nelle Marche, who settled in Verona during the sixteenth century.

Bardolino’ structure, morainic amphitheater sloping down to the lake, full of rocks and lacustrine landfills, has made this land the ideal area for the cultivation of grapevines. The Guerrieri, sensing their land’s agricultural potential, devoted themselves immediately to growing grapes.
Vincenzo Guerrieri (1792 – 1855) undertook a thorough reform of his lands, expanding the vineyards and olive groves, arranging the water supply and farmhouses and making improvements to the annexed cellars at Palazzo Guerrieri, building administrative offices and modern warehouses to store his valuable products.

The current layout of the area dates back to 1913, when the last descendant of the Guerrieri family, Giuseppina (1870-1967), the “Grand Dame”, married Count Carlo Rizzardi (1878-1975), heir to the centuries old country winemaking Rizzardi estate in Valpolicella.
The marriage resulted in the merger of two estates and to the creation of the first Guerrieri Rizzardi common label in 1914.

Borgo Bardolino was the production site of the Guerrieri Rizzardi wines up until 2011, when the increase in production made it necessary to transfer the new winery, which was located in a hilly area, surrounded by its vineyards, to Campazzi.

In 2016, right in this area, it opened to the public once again, giving back to its citizens and visitors an elegant context filled with tradition and history.