Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Ceretto 2015 Barolo is a great wine to pair with fassona, the famous beef from this region, or any other typical Piedmontese meat dish. This is the so-called base Barolo, or classico, that is designed to be an expression of the Nebbiolo grape more than any single-vineyard cru. The wine is satiny and silky with fine texture. Producers hate this "base" descriptor, because it implies an inferior product to a cru. Don't be misled: This is a Barolo-lover's Barolo. It's a true gem and an extremely elegant creation, and with 54,000 bottles produced, there is enough to go around.
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Wine Enthusiast
Camphor, new leather, sunbaked soil and the merest whiff of game appear in the glass. On the linear palate, polished tannins and fresh acidity accompany juicy sour cherry, pomegranate, star anise and espresso.
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Wine Spectator
Plum and cherry fruit meld into the rich texture, with firm yet integrated tannins. Spicy and lively, featuring a lingering, mouthwatering finish. Best from 2022 through 2040.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.