2021 Cigliuti Serraboella Barbaresco | 97 Point Old Vine Nebbiolo

🔥 97 Point Barbaresco | One of the Most Underrated Great Wines of Piedmont

65-year-old vines. One of Neive's great crus. Extraordinary Nebbiolo from a tiny family estate that deserves far greater recognition.

97 Points – Jeb Dunnuck | 95 Points – Vinous | 94 Points – Wine Spectator

Exceptional Single-Vineyard Barbaresco | Power, Perfume & Extraordinary Finesse

“If there is a seriously great Piedmont wine that remains under the radar, this is it. Serraboella has the vineyard pedigree, old vines, critical acclaim and longevity of far more expensive Barbaresco.”

Note: I checked the current reviews: the 2021 is 97 Jeb Dunnuck, 95 Vinous and 94 Wine Spectator, rather than 95 Wine Spectator.

Tasting Notes

Appearance: Brilliant ruby-garnet with the translucent beauty of great Nebbiolo.

Aroma: Deep and wonderfully complex, moving through raspberry, cherry and dark red fruits into pressed flowers, sweet herbs, cedar, leather, incense and liquorice. There's a distinctly mineral quality underneath the fruit that becomes increasingly apparent with air.

Palate: Powerful yet remarkably refined. Concentrated red fruit sits within a framework of noble, compact tannins, vibrant acidity and savoury complexity. The structure is serious, but there's tremendous purity and balance.

Finish: Long, mineral and persistent, with red fruit, herbs, spice and a wonderful saline character carrying through the finish. Jeb Dunnuck's review specifically highlights the wine's broader tannins, mineral character and pleasing saltiness.

Critical Acclaim – 2021 Vintage

• 97 Points – Jeb Dunnuck
• 95 Points – Antonio Galloni, Vinous
• 95 Points – Wine Spectator

Jeb Dunnuck's Audrey Frick sees the wine drinking beautifully for 20 years or more, while Wine Spectator gives a window of 2027–2042.

That's serious Barbaresco.

Serraboella – One of Neive's Great Vineyards

This is the key to understanding why I think this wine is so special.

Serraboella.

Located on the eastern side of Neive, Serraboella is today regarded as one of the most admired crus in the Barbaresco zone.

And few families are more closely connected with it than Cigliuti.

The domaine itself credits Renato Cigliuti as one of the people principally responsible for bringing Serraboella to prominence. For decades, Serraboella and Cigliuti were virtually synonymous; Renato was the first producer to put the vineyard name on his label in the 1970s and remained the only one doing so for roughly 30 years.

That's genuine history.

This isn't a producer who arrived after the vineyard became famous.

Cigliuti helped make Serraboella famous.

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65-Year-Old Nebbiolo Vines

The 2021 comes from approximately:

3 hectares of 65-year-old Nebbiolo vines

planted at around:

350 metres elevation

with a:

Southwest exposure

on Serraboella's:

Calcareous soils.

This combination gives the wine both intensity and structure, but importantly also the mineral freshness and longevity that define serious Nebbiolo.

Production is tiny.

Only around:

580 cases annually.

This is genuine small-production Piedmont.

Traditional Winemaking

Cigliuti doesn't need to overwork fruit of this quality.

The Serraboella undergoes approximately 15–20 days of fermentation and maceration in stainless steel with indigenous yeasts before an extended maturation of around:

26 months

in predominantly large Slavonian oak casks, supplemented by French oak tonneaux.

It's an approach that allows the vineyard to remain at the centre of the wine.

The result is Nebbiolo with:

Fruit • Perfume • Tannin • Minerality • Savouriness • Longevity

rather than simply oak.

Cigliuti – One of Piedmont's Most Underrated Producers

This is a producer more people should know.

The Cigliuti family has deep roots in Neive, but it was Renato Cigliuti who began estate bottling in 1964.

Today the domaine is run by his daughters Claudia and Silvia Cigliuti, continuing a family connection with this land that stretches back generations.

And importantly:

Serraboella is the flagship.

The family's identity and the vineyard are inseparable.

Yet Cigliuti still doesn't have anything like the international recognition—or pricing—of the most fashionable names of Barolo and Barbaresco.

That's exactly why I think this wine represents such an opportunity.

The Most Underrated Wine in Piedmont?

That's a big statement.

But look at what you're actually getting.

65-year-old Nebbiolo vines

Serraboella Cru

350 metres elevation

Family estate that pioneered Serraboella

Flagship wine of the domaine

Approximately 580 cases produced

97 Points – Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points – Vinous

95 Points – Wine Spectator

20+ years ageing potential

And the RRP:

$190.

In the context of what collectors now pay for elite Piedmont, that combination is seriously compelling.

2021 – An Outstanding Piedmont Vintage

The 2021 vintage has given this wine a particularly impressive combination of concentration, structure and freshness.

Antonio Galloni awarded it 95 points, finding the wine deep, polished and intense, with dark fruit, incense, leather, liquorice and mocha, while cautioning that its youthful tannins demand some patience.

Jeb Dunnuck went even higher:

97 Points.

The review emphasises the wine's depth, noble structure, ripe tannins and mineral/saline character and predicts it will drink beautifully for 20 years or more.

This is a bottle to buy for both the table and the cellar.

Food Pairings

• Tajarin with white truffle
• Brasato al Barolo
• Slow-braised beef cheek
• Roast duck
• Porcini mushroom risotto
• Venison
• Osso Buco
• Aged Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Mature hard cheeses

Cigliuti itself recommends roast and braised red meats, game, truffle dishes and mature cheeses.

Why We Love It

There are wines that are expensive because they're great.

And there are wines that are expensive because everyone already knows they're great.

Cigliuti Serraboella hasn't reached that second category yet.

That's what makes it so exciting.

Serraboella is a great vineyard.

Cigliuti has been intimately connected with it for generations.

The vines are old.

Production is tiny.

The wine can age for decades.

And the critics are telling us exactly how good the 2021 is:

97 Jeb Dunnuck.

95 Vinous.

95 Wine Spectator.

Yet the RRP remains:

$190.

For a flagship, single-vineyard Barbaresco of this quality and provenance, that's outstanding.

If you're buying names such as Gaja, Bruno Giacosa, Roagna, Produttori del Barbaresco or Sottimano, Cigliuti deserves to be on your radar.

And if you're building a Piedmont cellar?

I'd be putting this away by the six-pack.

Powerful. Perfumed. Mineral. Structured. Profound.

The 2021 Cigliuti Serraboella Barbaresco is exactly the type of wine I love finding — a genuinely great bottle whose reputation and price have not yet caught up with its quality.

97 Points. 65-Year-Old Vines. Serraboella Cru. $190 RRP.

👉 One of the most underrated great wines of Piedmont — and a Barbaresco I suspect will look like exceptional buying in another decade.

Searching for exceptional Barbaresco? The 2021 Cigliuti Serraboella Barbaresco is a 97-point old-vine Nebbiolo from the celebrated Serraboella MGA in Neive, Piedmont. Produced from approximately 65-year-old southwest-facing vines on calcareous soils, it combines raspberry, cherry and pressed flowers with cedar, leather, liquorice, spice and saline minerality, supported by noble tannins and exceptional long-term cellaring potential.