Winemaker Notes
Deep ruby red color with garnet hues. The nose is very elegant and neat with intense notes of red berry jams, wild herbs and chocolate. On the palate it is dry, fresh, powerful, with thick-yet-polished tannins and a persistent fruity finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Ripe blackberries and black plums wait patiently in their bowl, their sweetness mingling with wild mint, bay leaf, and allspice's peppery warmth. This wine carries itself like a five-star prospect in triple-A ball: all the raw talent is there, structured with fine-grained tannins and pure fruit, just waiting for its moment. Give it time in your cellar's minor leagues and watch this rookie develop into a perennial all-star, delivering greatness for decades to come. Drink from 2027.
Cellar Selection -
Wine Spectator
Packed with cherry, raspberry, strawberry, rose and mineral flavors, this red is juicy and smooth, with civilized tannins lending support. Complex and lively, with a long, expansive finish. Shows superb balance and future potential. Best from 2029 through 2050.
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James Suckling
A graceful wine despite its power. Intoxicating aromas of violets, roses, cherry stones and blood oranges enhanced by licorice and smoke notes. The palate is firm, with ripe, velvety tannins, crisp acidity, a full body and a polished finish despite its youth and extraction. Drink from 2027.
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Jeb Dunnuck
From the Serralunga d'Alba cru of Cerretta and sourced from the higher, more calcareous portion of the vineyard near the forest line, the 2021 Barolo Cerretta shows appealing purity in its aromas of wild raspberries, citrus zest, and fresh flowers. Medium-bodied, it offers well-defined tannins, balanced acidity, and lovely length, capturing both the structure of Serralunga and a refined sense of lift from this section of the site. It's great now and should also offer a wide window for enjoyment over the coming 10-15 years. Drink 2026-2041.
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Vinous
The 2021 Barolo Cerretta is bright and nicely focused. Hints of lavender, crushed rocks, mint, sage and tobacco open first. More than anything else, I admire the wine's vertical structure and overall energy. This needs time to soften. Today, brisk acids and tannins dominate.
We are a small, family-owned producer in the heart of the Barolo commune of Serralunga d'Alba. We make only red wines, and our passion is for Barolo and its great grape, Nebbiolo.
Since the 1890's the Rosso family has farmed vineyards in Serralunga d'Alba, notably the Crus of Cerretta, La Serra, Broglio, Meriame, Sorano, Costa Bella, Lirano & Damiano. During the early 1980's Giovanni Rosso restructured the vineyards with the aim of growing the best fruit.
Giovanni's son, Davide, studied Oenology and gained invaluable experience in France. In 2001 Davide, then 27 years old, took charge of the vinification & affinamento/elevage of the wines with one goal in mind: "Wine should be a perfect copy of its terroir"... in this case from the slopes of Serralunga d'Alba, among the finest soils in the world.
The Giovanni Rosso cantina (winery) is located in the hamlet of Baudana, just a couple of kilometres north of Serralunga d'Alba village. A traditional family cascina, or farmhouse, it houses the fermentation, ageing, bottling and labeling facilities as well as the offices.
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.