Terroir to glass with effortless superiority
'Alessandro Ceretto's 2016 Barolos have turned out beautifully. Gracious and elegant wines, the 2016s capture the personality of the year and of each site. The approach remains as it has been for the last few years. Sustainable farming, spontaneous fermentations and two years in wood are the norm for wines that are now much more translucent and classic in feel than they were some years ago' - Antonio Galloni, vinous.com, November 2019
As a company Ceretto are both business and terroir oriented. Their roots lie in the 1930s with Moscato, while these days they control one of Italy's best-selling white wines - a Roero Arneis that represents a huge part of that appellation. But in the 1970s, with an eye on regions like Burgundy and the northern Rhône, they began to buy great Barolo and Barbaresco terroirs. This didn't come out of the blue. They'd been following the traditional business model of buying grapes and making wine, but farmed those vineyards as though they owned them. They also made the wine according to the terroir and not in a big generic blend.
It took ages to persuade owners to part with land, and to get their dad to part with the cash, but eventually and gradually the Ceretto brothers assembled a high quality portfolio of some of the greatest vineyards in the region. The first purchase was their Barbaresco Asili in 1970 followed by Barolo acquisitions in Serralunga, and then their La Morra Brunate. In terms of oak the family aren't fans of Slavonian botti grandi but prefer 300 litre barrels with a later transfer to larger French casks. They've been rolling back the oak influence starting with the 2008 vintage and exchanged cultured for indigenous yeast years ago. More of the terroir has been revealed as they make this progress. But don't worry, these wines have the hallmark Ceretto smoothness and polish despite less than 20% of new oak.
In those vineyards the regime has changed over the years as the farming has transformed to organics and the cellars are no longer for displaying oenological brilliance, but rather the slow expression of terroir. 2016 is perhaps the pinnacle of the Ceretto brothers' achievements in showcasing this wonderful vintage in mineral, authentic and yes, luxurious wines. /CW
Offered subject to confirmation; for shipment Autumn 2020
