DOCG

Barolo Cerretta Giacomo Conterno

Giacomo Conterno

Vintages 2021 2020 2018 2017 2016 2015 2013 2012

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.

UK Market From £169.58 Found across 4 retailers
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Tasting Notes

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
Body Light / Full
Tannins Smooth / Grippy
Sweetness Dry / Sweet
Acidity Soft / Crisp
Nose

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.

VioletViolet
CherryCherry
RaspberryRaspberry
TobaccoTobacco
TarTar
Forest FloorForest Floor
LeatherLeather
LiquoriceLiquorice
Palate

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.

Finish

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.

Overall

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.

Drink now Best by 2042
Live UK pricing

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.

Best price · 75 cl £169.58 at 8wines
Price spread £169.58 - £1,334.64 Across 4 UK retailers tracked
Retailers tracked 4UK 12 in stock
Vintages live 2021 · 2020 · 2018 Current release: 2021
Per-litre (75 cl basis) £226.11 Per-litre price for the lowest current offer
Last checked 25 Aug 2026 Refreshed once every 24 hours
Wine fit score

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.

Best for cellar 9.5/10

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.

Best for an occasion 9.5/10

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.

Best with food 8.2/10

High acidity against dense tannin: outstanding with braises, roasts and truffle dishes, but it demands protein and fat rather than flexing to lighter plates.

Best value 3.8/10

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.

Denomination Compliance Snapshot

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.

Allowed grapes
1 varieties listed
This bottle: Nebbiolo.
Minimum ageing
38 months minimum
Of which 18 months in oak.
Region / area
Cuneo, Langhe: Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba, La Morra, Monforte d'Alba, Novello, Verduno, Grinzane Cavour, Diano d'Alba, Cherasco, Roddi
Source: Disciplinare.
Style
DOCG · Barolo
Minimum ABV at this colour: 13.0%.
Classification
DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita)
Retailer Shortlist

Where to Buy

Compare current availability from verified retailers at a glance. Stock is shown only where the retailer exposes it. In-stock offers are surfaced first, and unavailable rows cannot send you to a purchase page.

Best Live Price £169.58
Retailers Tracked 4
Last Checked 25 Aug 2026
Vino logo

Vino

Best price In stock
SAVE -30% 2021
£283.00
was regular price £404.29
£377.33/L · checked 23 Aug
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75 cl · Low stock confidence
Vino logo

Vino

Best price In stock
SAVE -30% 2020
£291.00
was regular price £415.71
£388.00/L · checked 23 Aug
Visit retailer
75 cl · Low stock confidence
Corneyandbarrow logo

Corneyandbarrow

Best price In stock
2017
£833.88
£1,111.84/L · checked 25 Aug
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75 cl · Case of 6 · Low stock confidence
Corneyandbarrow logo

Corneyandbarrow

Best price In stock
2012
£985.69
£1,314.25/L · checked 25 Aug
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75 cl · Case of 6 · Low stock confidence
Corneyandbarrow logo

Corneyandbarrow

Best price In stock
2018
£1,046.59
£1,395.45/L · checked 25 Aug
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75 cl · Case of 6 · Low stock confidence
Corneyandbarrow logo

Corneyandbarrow

Best price In stock
2013
£1,046.64
£1,395.52/L · checked 25 Aug
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75 cl · Case of 6 · Low stock confidence
Corneyandbarrow logo

Corneyandbarrow

Best price In stock
2020
£1,058.64
£1,411.52/L · checked 25 Aug
Visit retailer
75 cl · Case of 6 · Low stock confidence
Corneyandbarrow logo

Corneyandbarrow

Best price In stock
2015
£1,106.64
£1,475.52/L · checked 25 Aug
Visit retailer
75 cl · Case of 6 · Low stock confidence
Corneyandbarrow logo

Corneyandbarrow

Best price In stock
2016
£1,334.64
£1,779.52/L · checked 25 Aug
Visit retailer
75 cl · Case of 6 · Low stock confidence
Vintages

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.

2021 Current release
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.

2020 Previous release
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.

2018 Previous release
Lowest price
£1,046.59
Retailers
1 in stock
2017 Previous release
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.

The disciplinare, the place, the label

Barolo DOCG rules, and how far Conterno goes past them

Barolo DOCG demands 38 months' ageing with 18 in oak and caps yields at 8 tonnes per hectare across the 11 communes of the zone. Conterno holds Cerretta four years in large botti before release, a year beyond the legal minimum, in the style unchanged since Giacomo's first labels in 1924.

01

DOC, DOCG, IGT: what the badges mean

Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.

Barolo is in the DOCG tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.

02

The denomination rules, in detail

  • Allowed grapes. 1 varieties listed in the disciplinare
  • Yield ceiling. 8.0 tonnes per hectare
  • Minimum ABV. 13.0% vol
  • Minimum ageing. 38 months total (of which 18 in oak)
  • Tasting panel. Mandatory pre-release tasting commission
03

Region and area context

Barolo falls within Piedmont , covering Cuneo, Langhe: Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba, La Morra, Monforte d'Alba, Novello, Verduno, Grinzane Cavour, Diano d'Alba, Cherasco, Roddi. The denomination is further divided into 11 sub-zones.

04

Reading the label

  • Giacomo ConternoProducer / estate
  • NebbioloGrape varieties (in declared order of dominance)
  • Barolo DOCGGeographic indication and quality tier
  • 2021Vintage (year of harvest)
  • 14.5% vol · 75 clAlcohol by volume and bottle size
  • Imbottigliato all’origineEstate-bottled
05

What sits behind the price of Barolo Cerretta Giacomo Conterno

Tracked from
£169.58
Direction
Mostly cost up
Drivers
4 up / 1 down
Main factor
Two hectares of Nebbiolo in the Cerretta cru
  1. 01

    Two hectares of Nebbiolo in the Cerretta cru

    Cost up

    Conterno bought just 2 ha of Nebbiolo in Serralunga's Cerretta in 2008; a cru Barolo from a plot that small is scarce by construction, and agent allocation does the rest.

  2. 02

    Four years from harvest to release

    Cost up

    Cerretta ferments under a submerged cap in Austrian oak vats and ages in large botti, reaching market four years after harvest: four vintages of stock financed in the cellar before a bottle is sold.

  3. 03

    Hand-worked hillside viticulture at low yields

    Cost up

    Guyot-trained parcels up to 500 m with green harvest and leaf-pulling by hand; Barolo DOCG caps yields at 8 t/ha and the estate farms below the cap.

  4. 04

    UK duty and VAT on a fine-wine price

    Cost up

    HMRC duty on still wine is £2.67 a bottle at 2026 rates, but VAT scales with price: on a £255 Cerretta 2020, roughly £45 of the price is tax before the wine is counted.

  5. 05

    The junior cru in the Conterno range

    Cost down

    Cerretta trades well below the estate's Francia and far below Monfortino: about £171-291 a bottle in the UK against £986 for a six-bottle case of the 2012 via Corney & Barrow.

01

Two hectares of Nebbiolo in the Cerretta cru

Cost up

Conterno bought just 2 ha of Nebbiolo in Serralunga's Cerretta in 2008; a cru Barolo from a plot that small is scarce by construction, and agent allocation does the rest.

Food Pairing

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.

Tannin softening Strong match

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 →

Aromatic bridge Strong match

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 →

Fat cutting Good match

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 →

Body matching Good match

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 →

Salt balance Good match

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

Avoid Clash

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 →

Drinking + cellar

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.

Drinking window
2028 → 2042

Best in the years above; holds without falling over either side.

Decanting
h1

A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.

Cellar potential
High

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.

Buy now or wait?
Buy now

£169.58 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.

Sources & trust

Sources for this Barolo Cerretta page

Prices & stock

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 · High
Tasting notes

Drawn 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 · Medium
Appellation rules & ageing

From the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.

Confidence · High
Why it costs what it costs

Our 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 · Medium
Drink window & cellar potential

Style guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.

Confidence · Medium
Related

Around Cerretta: producer, cru and commune

Producer
Giacomo Conterno Piedmont
Grapes
Nebbiolo
Denomination
Barolo DOCG

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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Barolo Cerretta Giacomo Conterno
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