Winemaker Notes
Ceretto Barolo Classico has soft notes of rose petals, cigar box and red forest berries on the nose. The wine's well-balanced acidity entices the consumer to take and another sip as this wine is a complete joy on its own by-the-glass or when paired with a myriad of meat or cream-based dishes.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A bright Barolo with red cherries and raspberries with subtle brick notes and dried aromatic herbs. The medium-bodied palate is firm and chewy upfront, but gradually resolves towards the finish. The fruit presents lots of clarity and precision at the red end of the spectrum. A joy to taste, but wait at least three years to enjoy it at its best.
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Vinous
The 2021 Barolo is a super-classic, finely cut wine. A Barolo of real vibrancy, the 2021 bristles with energy. The straight Barolo is built on a core of fruit from the lower slopes of Brunate plus smaller pieces from the other sites. In 2021, it is a total delight. Orange peel, cinnamon, cedar and sweet pipe tobacco slowly fade on the close.
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Wine Spectator
A taut red, this offers strawberry, cherry, earth and underbrush flavors backed by a dense, linear structure. Remains fresh and lingers nicely on the finish. Best from 2028 through 2046.
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.