Ceretto: producer profile & 19 wines tasted

Tasting through Ceretto’s Barolo and Barbaresco portfolio is both a hedonistic and educational experience. Few wineries offer an equally varied line-up of excellent wines from some of Piedmont’s most famous vineyards.

Scroll down to see tasting notes & scores for Ceretto’s Barolo and Barbaresco wines

Owning over 160 hectares across three estates, Ceretto is a large producer by Langhe standards, but it doesn’t solely rely on economies of scale. The Cerettos – Bruno, Marcello, and their siblings Alessandro, Federico, Lisa and Roberta – are among the most energetic and forward-thinking entrepreneurs in the Italian wine industry.

Over the last 30 years, they have ventured beyond wine production, importing some of the finest French wines into Italy, acquiring luxury food brand, Relanghe, and managing the multi-award-winning Piazza Duomo restaurant (read more below).

The Ceretto family also financed the construction or renovation of some of the Langhe’s architectural landmarks, including the Brunate Chapel (painted by Sol Lewitt and David Tremlett in 1999), the oblique glass and steel Cubo at the top of the Bricco Rocche vineyard, and the Acino (grape-shaped) panoramic room in the Monsordo Berardina estate.

Ceretto fact box

Date founded 1937

Hectares under vine 160

Annual production Approximately 1.2 million bottles

Key vineyards Asili, Bernadot, and Gallina (Barbaresco); Bussia, Bricco Rocche, Brunate, Cannubi San Lorenzo, Prapò, and Rocche di Castiglione (Barolo).

From Blangè to Barolo

Innovation has always been part of Ceretto’s DNA. Not only were Bruno and Marcello Ceretto among the first to release single-vineyard Barolo and Barbaresco, in 1974, but they also launched Blangé, one of the most successful white wines in Italy in the 1980s and 1990s.

Made from Arneis grapes, Blangè was among the first Italian whites produced with the cold soaking technique, which boosted the aromatics while preserving the light and sour taste that appealed to consumers at that time. The French-sounding name derives from the Piedmontese distortion of the term ‘Boulanger’ (baker) and refers to the job of the previous owner of the original vineyards.

‘Blangè was first released in 1985 and quickly became a bestseller,’ explained Mattia Pagliasso, export manager at Ceretto. ‘In just ten years, the brothers had to increase vineyard size and production tenfold to satisfy booming demand’.

Blangè, which today accounts for roughly 50% of the estate’s production, generated a cash flow that funded the previously mentioned projects, as well as the expansion of family holdings in the Barolo and Barbaresco denominations.

In 1997, Bruno and Marcello added five hectares in the high-altitude Bernadot cru of Treiso to their vineyard portfolio, which already included several other vineyards in five different townships purchased between the 1960s and ‘70s. The acquisition of 0.4 hectares in the Cannubi San Lorenzo vineyard followed in 2002.

The long-term goal of making at least one single-vineyard wine from each of the denominations’ main villages was finally achieved in 2015, when they acquired a 0.3 ha plot in the Gallina vineyard in Neive (Barbaresco), and established a rental agreement to vinify fruit from the Bussia vineyard in Monforte d’ Alba.

The biodynamic revolution

The new generation improved the management of the 32 hectares in the Barolo and Barbaresco DOCGs. The revolution started in 2009, when Alessandro Ceretto, who has been the head winemaker since the early 2000s, hired renowned consultant Adriano Zago to convert the Nebbiolo vineyards to biodynamic agriculture. ‘We began with the best plots, as the small size facilitated experimentation,’ remarked Pagliasso.

Alessandro was deeply satisfied with the first results, so he expanded the project beyond Barolo and Barbaresco, and by 2015, all the vineyards owned by Ceretto were certified organic. ‘We work in the vines according to biodynamic principles, but we are not seeking the biodynamic certification, as we prefer to pursue our winemaking style instead of adapting to dictated standards,’ said Pagliasso.

In the cellar

In line with Zago’s influence in the vineyards, winemaking at Ceretto changed radically too. A transition took place from the modernist style of Barolo and Barbaresco that Marcello and Bruno had followed since the early 1990s towards a style that combined transparency and approachability, under the supervision of Alessandro.

2009 was the first vintage in which the single-vineyard wines underwent fermentation with ambient yeasts. Regular mechanical presses replaced roto-fermenters, and the percentage of new oak was reduced to around 5-8%.

Alessandro currently vinifies the different parcels within each vineyard separately and assembles them before bottling. Fermentation happens in stainless steel vessels at 25-26°C, and maceration normally lasts between 20 and 25 days. Malolactic fermentation takes place in barrique.

Ageing occurs for 10 to 12 months in barrique or tonneaux, and for either one or two years – depending on whether it is Barolo or Barbaresco – in French and Slavonian oak botti grandi. All the wines are bottled unfiltered and spend at least one more year in the cellar before hitting the market.

Over time, I have tasted old and new vintages of Ceretto’s single-vineyard collection, and I have found the stylistic shift quite remarkable. While the latest releases stand out for their purity, refinement and site-specific character, the wines from the 1990s and early 2000s are still lively, but in many cases the heavier extraction and stronger use of new oak resulted in darker profiles with drier tannins and less detail.

‘It is going to be interesting to see how the recent releases will perform in the long run,’ affirms Pagliasso. ‘Maybe they will have a slightly shorter drinking window than the wines made before 2009, but we believe they will evolve differently and more gently, showing greater complexity.’

Piazza Duomo

The joint venture between the Ceretto family and superstar chef, Enrico Crippa, Piazza Duomo is the only restaurant owned by a wine producer to hold three Michelin stars, and appears in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list (#19 in 2022).

Enrico Crippa is a master of plant-based fine dining, using over 250 different vegetables sourced from the orchard and greenhouse within Ceretto’s Monsordo Berardina estate. His take on Piedmontese cuisine is groundbreaking, blending traditional ingredients with herbs, vegetables and spices to create dishes that combine freshness and lightness with mind-boggling aromatic persistence.

Standout courses from the current menus include potato cream, lapsang souchong, and white truffle; snails and polenta; Risotto Roiboos; and the Winegrower’s salad (with beef tongue and Piedmontese green sauce).

The restaurant also boasts an extensive wine list with a clear focus on Piedmont, Burgundy and Champagne, and offers a tasting menu dedicated to Barolo pairings.

Comparing the crus: Tasting Ceretto’s Barolos and Barbarescos

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