Ceretto Bricco Rocche Barolo Bricco Rocche 2011

For more than 80 years the Ceretto family has been making wine in Piedmont’s Langhe. The family is most well known for producing coveted single-vineyard estate grown Nebbiolo wines and high-quality Arneis and Moscato. Their wine production covers seven separate estates, while an eighth (I Vignaiolo di Santo Stefano) is co-owned along with two other growers. The Cerettos were the first producers in Piedmont to use stainless steel for fermenting red wine and adopted other modern techniques, including temperature control for fermentation, reduced maceration times and new oak aging. When Ceretto produced its first Arneis, only 74 acres of this grape were planted in the region. Today there are more than 1,200 acres planted to Arneis. The Ceretto Arneis is considered the benchmark and one in every five bottles of Arneis produced in Piedmont bears the Blange label.

This wine has a deep garnet color with crimson hues. Complex aromas of cherries, raisins, dried flowers, smoky vanilla, and cigar box are apparent on the nose while flavors of red fruits and sweet spices abound on the palate. This is a rich, fullbodied wine with velvety soft tannins and balanced acidity and a long, appealing finish.

This wine is best paired with dishes with powerful flavors. Beef, lamb, veal, rabbit and pheasant all wonderfully marry with the deep flavors of this wine. Dishes with wild mushrooms and truffles such as risottos are wonderful companions as well as the deep flavors complement one another beautifully