Ceretto
Region / Appellation
Piedmont’s Langhe
In the southwest corner of Piedmont is the Langhe region. The name Langhe is derived from Langa, the long finger-like crests of the region’s hills, which provide a clue to the area’s long, narrow shape. This highly prized corner of Piedmont reaches from the village of Alba along the banks of the Tanaro River to the southern edge of the Piedmont border. It encompasses the northern region’s most prestigious Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) zones, including Barolo and Barbaresco, as well as the Langhe Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC).
The region’s classification system was initially approached in 1903, but debates, changes, phylloxera and war took its toll on the area. During the 1950s, post-World War II, many people moved from the countryside to cities, altering the winemaking landscape. It wasn’t until the Langhe region, and its wine industry, experienced a resurgence in the 1970s that a DOCG classification was finally determined in 1980.
As part of Piedmont, which in Italian means “at the foot of the mountains,” Langhe is located below Alpine mountain ranges that nearly surround the entire region. Formed at the same time as the Alps, the Langhe’s continuous wave of hillsides consist primarily of clay, calcareous marl and sandstone soil, which have a relatively high pH, compared to the sandier, and thus more acidic soil of the Roero on the other side of the River.
The sub-Alpine climate brings frozen winters and hot, dry summers. Rain is a common occurrence in May, during flowering and in September before harvest, when it can cause mold or rot. The Tanaro River, which runs along Langhe’s northern border, creates an autumn “mist,” or “nebbia,” which gives Nebbiolo its name and allows the grapes to hang longer on the vine.
Much of Langhe’s acclaim is due to the native Nebbiolo grape. A late-ripening variety, which pushes harvest back to October and November, Nebbiolo often draws comparisons to Pinot Noir from Burgundy. Like its fellow thin-skinned variety, Nebbiolo can produce elegant wines that express the subtle nuances of difference between vineyard parcels just a few feet apart. Nebbiolo is always subject to the whims of Mother Nature, which in Piedmont can be dramatic, from hot to cold, from hail to snow. Like a fine Pinot Noir from Burgundy, a Nebbiolo from Langhe challenges a wine lover to understand the earth from which it grows.
The Cerettos farm 740 hectares (300 acres) of vineyards in Langhe planted to Nebbiolo, as well as Arneis, Dolcetto, Moscato and a small amount of French varietals. The vineyard sites are located in the most prestigious regions including Barolo, Barbaresco, Langhe, and within the most acclaimed villages, such as Barolo, La Morra, Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga d’Alba.
