Dried rose and raspberry sit over the notes drinkers flag most across Cerretta's 1,100-plus Vivino ratings: leather, truffle and forest floor, with tobacco behind. The vino.com datasheets for the 2020 and 2021 add medicinal herbs, currant and a spiced edge. Classic Serralunga aromatics, a shade fleshier here.
Barolo Cerretta Giacomo Conterno
Giacomo Conterno
Roberto Conterno's Barolo from Cerretta, the clay-rich Serralunga cru he bought in 2008, aged four years in big botti. Fleshier than his Francia, still austere Serralunga Nebbiolo: leather, truffle and red fruit. UK stock runs 2012 to 2021.
Serralunga clay in the glass: tasting Conterno's Cerretta
Cerretta is the most clay-rich of Giacomo Conterno's three crus, and its Barolo shows it: lusher fruit than Francia over the leather, truffle and forest-floor tones that dominate its 1,100-plus Vivino ratings. Fermentation is the house classic, submerged cap in Austrian oak vats, then four years in large botti.
- Tasted by
- ItalianWines editorial (drinker consensus)
- Tasted on
- 30 July 2026
- Source
- Drinker consensus · confidence Medium
- Taste profile
Full Serralunga structure at 14.5%: high acidity against a dense, vigorous tannic frame, the mark Grand Cru Selections pins on Cerretta's clay-heavy, west-facing slope. The fruit runs lusher than Conterno's Francia, cherry and raspberry deepened by submerged-cap maceration in Austrian oak vats.
Long and savoury, closing on tar, liquorice and a leathery grip; four years in large botti before release leave the tannin integrated rather than raw.
The most approachable price in Roberto Conterno's Barolo range, and drinkers rate it near the top of the appellation at 4.6 across 1,122 Vivino ratings. In-window 2012 to 2017 bottles drink now; the five-star 2020 and 2021 are cellar wines for the 2030s.
Where the UK buys Barolo Cerretta
Corney & Barrow, Conterno's UK agent, lists Cerretta by the six-bottle wooden case and in magnum, with back vintages to 2012. Per-bottle routes run from about £171 for the 2017 to around £255-291 for the 2020 and 2021 releases.
Cerretta on the Italian Wine Fit Score
The scores tell one story: 9-plus for cellar and occasion against low everyday and value marks, which is what a £171-291 Serralunga cru from a 2-hectare holding should look like next to the £116 average of Barolo listed on this site.
Barolo DOCG mandates 38 months with 18 in oak; Conterno holds Cerretta four years in botti, and agent windows run to 2034 with the five-star 2020 and 2021 projecting into the 2040s.
A cru Barolo from one of Italy's most storied estates, released four years after harvest and allocated through agents: built for landmark dinners and serious gifts.
High acidity against dense tannin: outstanding with braises, roasts and truffle dishes, but it demands protein and fat rather than flexing to lighter plates.
UK per-bottle prices of £171-291 sit 1.5 to 2.5 times the £116 average of Barolo listings on this site; the accessible tier within Conterno's range, but not category value.
Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.
Barolo in five fields
A compact view of what the Barolo denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.
Where to Buy
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Vino
Vino
Cerretta 2012 to 2021: five vintages compared
The chart splits this run cleanly: 2020 and 2021 are five-star Barolo years, 2015 and 2017 warm and generous, 2012 an atypical, uneven season that made mid-weight wines. Corney & Barrow's drinking windows stretch from 2019-2030 on the 2012 to 2024-2034 on the 2017.
- Lowest price
- £283.00
- Retailers
- 1 in stock
- ABV
- 14.5%
- Window
- Drink now through 2042
Rated five stars for its mix of full ripeness and fresh acidity. Window derived from the agent pattern for a structured top vintage: from 2028 into the 2040s.
- Lowest price
- £240.00
- Retailers
- 3 in stock
- ABV
- 14.5%
- Window
- Drink now through 2040
A five-star vintage on the Italian chart: ripe but balanced. Window derived from the agent's pattern for a top year; expect it to open from the late 2020s and run through the 2030s.
- Lowest price
- £1,046.59
- Retailers
- 1 in stock
- Lowest price
- £169.58
- Retailers
- 2 in stock
- ABV
- 14.5%
- Window
- Drink now through 2034
A hot, dry year that made softer, earlier-drinking Barolos; Cerretta's water-holding clay was an asset. Corney & Barrow gives 2024-2034, the longest window of the listed back vintages.
Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.
What Cerretta's tannin and acidity are built for
Serralunga Nebbiolo carries high acidity and a dense tannic frame, and Cerretta adds the clay cru's fleshier fruit. It asks for protein, fat and umami: brasato al Barolo, white truffle over tajarin, aged Parmigiano.
Braised beef, the Barolo-country classic
Cerretta's dense Nebbiolo tannin binds to slow-cooked collagen and fat, and the wine's high acidity lifts a rich braise rather than sitting on it. Brasato al Barolo is the canonical match for a reason.
Try with: Brasato al Barolo · beef cheek braised in red wine · osso buco · More pairings →
White truffle and porcini, Piedmont on one plate
The leather, truffle and forest-floor tones that dominate Cerretta's drinker reviews bridge straight into fungal, earthy dishes; the wine's savoury register amplifies them instead of fighting.
Try with: Truffle risotto · tajarin with white truffle · porcini pappardelle · More pairings →
Big roasts and aged beef
High acidity and 14.5% of structured body cut through rendered fat and crusted protein, and Nebbiolo tannin needs exactly that protein to soften against.
Try with: Beef wellington · rib of beef · roast venison · More pairings →
Baked pasta and long-cooked ragù
A robust Serralunga Barolo flattens light dishes; layered pasta with slow-cooked meat sauce matches its weight while the acidity handles the tomato.
Try with: Lasagna · pappardelle with wild boar ragù · tagliatelle Bolognese · More pairings →
Aged hard cheeses
Salt and crystalline umami in long-aged cheese soften Nebbiolo tannin and echo the wine's savoury, leathery finish; a Piedmontese cheese board is the low-effort match.
Try with: 36-month Parmigiano Reggiano · Castelmagno · aged pecorino
Chilli heat and delicate raw dishes
Capsaicin magnifies 14.5% alcohol and dense tannin into bitterness, and the same tannin steamrolls raw fish and oysters. Keep Cerretta away from hot plates and delicate ones alike.
Skip with: Vindaloo · Sichuan hotpot · sushi · oysters · Pairing guide →
Cellaring Cerretta: windows, cases and the magnum route
Conterno releases Cerretta four years after harvest and Corney & Barrow ships it in original wooden six-packs, with the 2015 sold as magnum. Agent windows run 2019-2030 for the 2012, 2024-2032 for the 2015 and 2024-2034 for the 2017; the five-star 2020 and 2021 project into the 2040s.
Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.
A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.
Barolo DOCG mandates 38 months with 18 in oak; Conterno holds Cerretta four years in botti, and agent windows run to 2034 with the five-star 2020 and 2021 projecting into the 2040s.
£169.58 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.
Sources for this Barolo Cerretta page
Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 25 Aug 2026, 03:40 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.
Confidence · HighDrawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.
Confidence · MediumFrom the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.
Confidence · HighOur reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.
Confidence · MediumStyle guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.
Confidence · MediumAround Cerretta: producer, cru and commune
Common Questions
Cerretta is a vineyard in Serralunga d'Alba, on the eastern flank of the Barolo zone. Giacomo Conterno bought 2 hectares of Nebbiolo there in 2008, alongside 1 hectare of Barbera, and has made a cru Barolo from it since the 2010 vintage.
Cerretta sits on the most clay-heavy soils of Conterno's three crus, while Francia is calcareous; the estate's agent describes Cerretta as the lusher, more fruit-driven of the two. Both get the same cellar treatment: submerged-cap fermentation in Austrian oak vats and four years in large botti.
Corney & Barrow, the UK agent, gives 2019-2030 for the 2012, 2024-2032 for the 2015 magnum and 2024-2034 for the 2017. The five-star 2020 and 2021 vintages are built for the 2030s, and any young bottle deserves a long decant.
It is the most approachable price in Conterno's Barolo range: UK listings run from about £171 for the 2017 to £255-291 for the 2020 and 2021, with a six-bottle wooden case of 2012 at about £986 via Corney & Barrow. Scarcity does the pricing: the estate farms just 2 hectares of Nebbiolo in Cerretta, and Francia and Monfortino sit well above it.
Drinker consensus across more than 1,100 Vivino ratings leads with earthy notes: leather, truffle and forest floor over cherry and raspberry fruit, and vino.com's datasheets add medicinal herbs, currant and spice. Expect full Serralunga structure: high acidity, dense tannin and 14.5% alcohol.
2010, bottled exclusively in magnum. Regular releases followed in the vintages after, and the bottles listed on this page span 2012 to 2021.
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