Vietti's 2021 Cerequio Barolo opens with ripe red berries and fine spices before revealing strawberry, plum, and cherry on a full-bodied palate. The tannins are fine yet imposing, built for a wine of rare elegance and balance. This is Nebbiolo with structure that will age, but it's already drinking with a suppleness that makes the power feel effortless.
Winemaker Notes
Of the great and historic geographical indications in the Barolo production area, Cerequio has always been at the very top of the territories of excellence. By allowing the distinctive features of this cru to lead the way, the winery was able to obtain a wine of rare elegance and balance. With an articulated and complex bouquet even when young, it expresses itself through a significant streak of tannins, supporting an enveloping and persistent structure.
Professional Ratings
97
DecanterUplifting nuances of mint and strawberry are brilliantly countered by a grounding earthiness that reaches mineral depths. This is elegantly weighted with enduring strength, and the tannins exhibit a powerful stoniness yet are gracefully proportioned. Really the epitome of balance – but nowhere near ready. Introduced in 2018, Cerequio (along with Monvigliero) is among the most recent editions to Vietti’s lineup of single-MGA Barolos. The 0.79 hectare plot purchased from Michele Chiarlo falls within the Barolo township just above Sarmassa.
97
VinousThe 2021 Barolo Cerequio marries elegance and power in the way only Nebbiolo can. Bright acids and strong floral inflections run through this mid-weight yet dense, layered wine. All the elements are deftly woven together. This nuanced, finely sketched Barolo has always been compelling, as it is again today.
97
James SucklingThis has impressive aromas of blue fruit, earth, red plums and some dried herbs. Firm and chewy, with refined fruit, a precise, racy profile and a chewy finish. Well crafted and sophisticated, with an imposing structure that requires three to five years of cellaring. An outstanding wine.
96
Robert Parker / Wine AdvocateChoices, choices, choices... The Vietti 2021 Barolo Cerequio is another classic from this over-performing estate. This parcel was purchased in 2018 from the Chiarlo family (the Krause family acquired Vietti in 2016), and although the location is La Morra, the site behaves more like Sarmassa in Barolo, creating wines with a firm, tight entry and good structure. You could say that it has a nervous character now in its adolescence, and of course we expect it to smooth out and find harmony with time. Fruit was harvested on September 30th, and the wine sees 27 days of extended skin maceration. Compared to Brunate, which is always darker in character, the Cerequio is lighter and brighter with pretty primary fruit. Production is 4,890 bottles.
95
Wine SpectatorBroad and ripe, featuring cherry, strawberry, hay, earth and green tea aromas and flavors. A layer of refined tannins gives this red lift, while the center of sweet fruit adds harmony and lingers on the finish. Best from 2028 through 2045.
About the Producer
Located in the heart of the Langhe hills, at the top of the village of Castiglione Falletto, the Vietti wine cellar was founded in the late 1800's by Carlo Vietti. The estate has gradually grown over time, and today the vineyard holdings include some of the most highly prized terroirs within the Barolo and Barbaresco winegrowing areas. Although they had been making wine for four generations, the turning point came at the end of the 1950's when Luciana Vietti married winemaker and art connoisseur Alfredo Currado, whose intuitions - from the production of one of the first Barolo crus (1961 - Roc…
