Winemaker Notes
Deep garnet in color, this extraordinarily complex and elegant wine has excellent structure and notes of red berries, chocolate, mint, fine species, and pleasant balsamic hints. The captivating finish is harmonious and persistent.
Pair with truffle pasta, stew and well-matured cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Dried flowers, red berry baked tarts, rose petals, patisserie elements. Clean, clear and sharp, this is focussed and amazingly taught on the palate. Tannins are present and firm giving the linearity to this - the straight core that drives the wine forward. It's not so expansive, the tension is so apparent still, but so well defined and really graceful. Feels sophisticated and oh so charming. Such amazing almost bitter, minty, freshness on the finish, the licks of stone, graphite, pencil led giving the salinity and minerality. Just such a gorgeous lingering impression that makes you smile. Mouthwatering acidity is up front and centre but it's cushioned and plumped by the tannins and freshness, not giving plushness but certainly adding depth. Amazingly well controlled, full of vivacity and scintillating tension.
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Wine Enthusiast
Enchanting aromas of spiced cherry preserves, baking spices and rosewood just scratch the surface of what can and will emerge from this stunning Barolo. The palate strikes a firm tone with a foundation of tannins and acidity built for the cellar while tart red berries, aged tea and herbal flavors give an alluring aura to this wine. Drink 2026–2045.
Cellar Selection -
James Suckling
Beautiful nose with dried red fruit, cherry chocolate, bergamot and bark with hints of citrus blossom and dry earth. So polished and refined with medium to full body and a compact tannin structure. It has savory nuances to the fruit character and crushed stone minerality in the finish. Already attractive but can age further.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 vintage is still young but is not too far away from its prime drinking window. Held back for more aging at the winery, the Michele Chiarlo 2016 Barolo Riserva Cerequio has only begun to turn away from primary intensity. There are aromas of dried fruit and pressed rose that follow a long, polished mouthfeel. This is a full-bodied effort from Cerequio with rich fruit weight and spicy oak tannins.
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Wine & Spirits
High-toned flavors of red cherry and raspberry are tinged with hints of tarragon and fresh rose petal in this fresh and floral Riserva. Its pure red fruit tones and energetic acidity suggest a long life ahead, even as the polished tannins make it accessible now with a decant.
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Vinous
The 2016 Barolo Riserva Cerequio is a powerful, dense wine. I very much admire the intensity here, even if the oak imprint is strong. Black fruit, mocha, leather, incense and cloves bring out the darker side of Cerequio.
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Wine Spectator
Distinctively minty, with steeped cherry, plum and eucalyptus notes backed by a solid wall of tannins. Everything is in harmony, with a lingering aftertaste of ripe fruit, mint and earth.
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.