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Ceretto, Barolo Brunate, 1996

Red Wine from Piedmont, Italy
$159.99
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This is a nearly thirty-year-old bottle from Brunate, one of Barolo's most celebrated crus: a fully south-facing slope between La Morra and Barolo. Ceretto's vines there grow on Tortonian Sant'Agata Fossil marls with a good share of sand. The family describes the cru as aromatically bold, with a big floral nose. Ceretto owns this land at all because brothers Bruno and Marcello talked their father Riccardo out of buying grapes and into buying and farming his own vineyards, which wasn't easy, since his generation saw farming as a road to poverty. Their Brunate is vinified and aged at the Bricco Rocche winery they built in 1982 for the family's top Barolo sites. (A fun detail: the parcels sit mostly near the little chapel that Sol LeWitt and David Tremlett repainted in 1999, a few years after this wine was made.) It's a rare chance to taste mature cru Barolo from the generation that built Ceretto. As with any older bottle, decant it gently.

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Antonio Galloni

94 points

"The 1996 Barolo Brunate has aged gracefully, although it is fully mature, or close to it. Sweet tobacco, mint, leather, licorice, spice and dried herbs give the 1996 its exotic aromatics. The 1996 has enough depth and freshness to drink well for another few years, although I wouldn't push my luck too much further." —Antonio Galloni

Robert Parker

93 points

"This wine exhibits a saturated ruby color with purple nuances. Additionally, it is rich, with lots of extract, tannin, and body. The 1996 Barolo Brunate's dark ruby color is followed by aromas of Chinese black tea, pepper, earth, and cherries. Ripe, full-bodied, and structured, with excellent depth, a sweet mid-palate, and a firm finish, this wine requires moderate patience." —Robert M. Parker, Jr.

More about Ceretto

Ceretto is a name that has meant both innovation and tradition in the Piedmont region for many decades now. Brothers Bruno and Marcello (pictured above) first convinced their father to make the transition from purchasing grapes to buying and farming their own vineyards.

It wasn't easy, as their father, like many of his generation, regarded farming and owning land as too hard and often impoverishing, with memories of decades of economic depression for farmers. But the brothers weren't thinking of Piedmont's past, but rather its future and they were convinced that the success of Burgundy was the model to follow.

So they were among the first to help map out the "crus" or single vineyard parcels of Barolo and Barbaresco, and also were among the first to bottle wines with now famous cru names like Bricco Asili in Barbaresco and Bricco Rocche in Barolo.

In the early 1990's the children of Bruno and Marcello joined the team officially, and they continued the family's passionate pursuit of quality and innovation. That focus perhaps led to a bit too much influence of the "modern" style for awhile, but in the past few years the real innovation has a been a return to a more traditional style and renewed focus on the vineyards, including organic certification in 2015.

Wine Details

  • Grape Variety

    Nebbiolo

  • Vintage

    1996

  • Size

    750ml

  • Farming Practice

    Traditional

  • Style

    Elegant

  • Sweetness

    Dry

  • Body

    Full Bodied

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Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Brasato al Barolo, tajarin with shaved white truffle, braised wild boar, or a wedge of aged Castelmagno.

Tasting Profile

Expect the classic profile of mature cru Barolo: dried flowers and violet (Brunate is known for a big floral nose) alongside dried cherry, tar, leather, truffle and forest floor. Nebbiolo's firm tannins typically soften with long bottle age, leaving a dry, silky palate with lively acidity and a long, savoury finish.