2021 Luigi Baudana Barolo del Commune di Serralunga d'Alba | 96 Point Benchmark Barolo

🔥 96 Point Serralunga Barolo | Extraordinary Value from One of Barolo's Great Villages

Power, roses, iron and crushed-stone minerality — unmistakably Serralunga and seriously impressive Barolo

Fruit from Baudana, Cerretta & Costabella. 26 months maturation. One of the great value buys in Barolo.

96 Points – Kerin O'Keefe

94 Points - The Wine Front | 94 Points – The Wine Advocate | 94 Points – Wine Enthusiast | 94 Points – JamesSuckling.com | 93 Points – Jeb Dunnuck | 93 Points – Wine Spectator

Exceptional Serralunga Barolo | Power, Minerality & Classical Nebbiolo Structure

“A brilliant introduction to Serralunga — combining the village's famous power and mineral structure with beautiful Nebbiolo perfume, freshness and elegance.”

Critical Acclaim – 2021 Vintage

• 96 Points – Kerin O'Keefe
• 94 Points - The Wine Front 
• 94 Points – The Wine Advocate
• 94 Points – Wine Enthusiast
• 94 Points – JamesSuckling.com
• 94 Points – The Wine Front
• 93 Points – Jeb Dunnuck
• 93 Points – Wine Spectator
• 92 Points – Vinous

There's even more critical acclaim here than the original scores suggest.

Wine Enthusiast describes a wine of genuine Serralunga depth and gravitas, with dark cherry, cinnamon, sage, crushed-chalk minerality and fine but serious tannins, awarding it 94 points and recommending drinking from 2027.

Serralunga d'Alba – The Powerful Side of Barolo

This is what makes the wine particularly exciting.

Serralunga d'Alba.

Of Barolo's great communes, Serralunga is famous for producing some of the denomination's most:

Powerful • Structured • Mineral • Long-Lived

expressions of Nebbiolo.

And this wine gives you a genuine taste of that personality without the significantly higher price of the great single-vineyard Serralunga Barolos.

The fruit comes from three important sites:

Baudana

Cerretta

Costabella

Baudana and Cerretta alone are serious names.

The single-vineyard 2021 Luigi Baudana Cerretta received up to 97 points, while the single-vineyard Baudana also received up to 97 points.

And some of the fruit from those terroirs finds its way into this wine.

At $135, that's very compelling.

Tasting Notes

Appearance: Classic translucent ruby-garnet with beautiful clarity and youthful vibrancy.

Aroma: Intensely aromatic with dark cherry, forest berries, blackcurrant and plum, followed by red rose, cinnamon, white pepper, balsamic herbs, mint, tea and ferrous earth.

Palate: This is unmistakably Serralunga. Dark cherry and berry fruit meet firm, stony tannins, bright acidity and crushed-mineral character. There's real structure here, but also a surprising degree of juiciness and elegance.

Finish: Long, energetic and savoury, with cherry, orange peel, tobacco, white pepper, tea and iron-like minerality lingering through the finish.

This isn't soft, simple Nebbiolo.

It's proper Barolo.

Three Vineyards – One Expression of Serralunga

The beauty of a Barolo del Comune is that rather than focusing on a single cru, the wine captures the broader personality of an entire village.

And when that village is Serralunga?

That's exciting.

The 2021 combines fruit from:

Baudana – perfume, depth and mineral elegance

Cerretta – power, structure and longevity

Costabella – another component adding to the complete Serralunga expression

The Wine Advocate specifically identifies all three vineyards in the blend. Vinous calls the wine a serious overachiever in Piedmont and notes fruit from younger vines in Baudana and Cerretta alongside Costabella.

Luigi Baudana + G.D. Vajra

There's another reason these wines are so interesting.

The historic Luigi Baudana estate is now closely connected with the Vajra family, bringing together two compelling Barolo stories.

Luigi and Fiorina Baudana built their reputation around exceptional vineyards in Serralunga, while the Vajra family has continued to farm the vineyards with enormous attention to biodiversity and organic practices. The Baudana vineyards have been managed under Vajra's organic protocol since 2009, and the winery is sustainably and organically certified.

It's a fascinating combination:

Luigi Baudana terroir + Vajra precision.

Traditional Barolo Élevage

The 2021 spent:

26 Months in Oak

primarily in large Slavonian casks of 15, 17 and 25 hectolitres, together with a small number of neutral barrels.

It was bottled on:

28 June 2024.

Again, the emphasis isn't on flashy new oak.

It's about allowing Nebbiolo and the mineral character of Serralunga to dominate.

That's exactly what I want from Barolo.

The Brilliant 2021 Vintage

And then there's the vintage.

2021 is serious Barolo territory.

Baudana describes 2021 as a vintage capable of producing world-class wines, with good acidity, excellent phenolic maturity and unusually long, gentle fermentations.

The critical results across the Baudana range tell the story.

The 2021 single-vineyard wines reached:

97 Points – Baudana

and

97 Points – Cerretta.

So this isn't simply an excellent producer.

It's an excellent producer in a standout vintage.

The Value Proposition

This is where I think the wine becomes especially interesting.

Your RRP:

$135.

The Australian importer currently lists the wine at $141 RRP, while another Australian retailer lists it at $140, making your $135 positioning very competitive.

For that, you're getting:

Barolo DOCG

from

Serralunga d'Alba

with fruit sourced from:

Baudana + Cerretta + Costabella

and scores reaching:

96 Points.

That's exceptional value by modern Barolo standards.

Food Pairings

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

If drinking now, give it at least 1–2 hours in a decanter.

Cellaring

This is built to age.

Jeb Dunnuck gives a drinking window of:

2025–2040

while Wine Spectator suggests:

2028–2045.

I'd happily put several bottles away and follow its development over the next 10–15+ years.

The Serralunga structure is certainly there.

Why We Love It

This might be one of the smartest buys in the current Luigi Baudana range.

You're getting:

100% Nebbiolo

Serralunga d'Alba

Fruit from Baudana, Cerretta & Costabella

26 months maturation

Organically managed vineyards

96 Points – Kerin O'Keefe

94 Points – Wine Advocate

94 Points – Wine Enthusiast

94 Points – James Suckling

94 Points – The Wine Front

93 Points – Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points – Wine Spectator

And the RRP?

$135.

That is outstanding.

If G.D. Vajra Albe is the beautifully perfumed, accessible introduction to Barolo, this takes you somewhere different.

Serralunga.

More iron.

More stone.

More tannin.

More power.

More of that dark, savoury, mineral personality that makes this village so famous.

Yet the 2021 retains beautiful perfume and freshness.

Powerful. Mineral. Perfumed. Structured. Classical.

The 2021 Luigi Baudana Barolo del Comune di Serralunga d'Alba is proper Serralunga Barolo at a remarkably sensible price.

96 Points. Serralunga d'Alba. Baudana + Cerretta + Costabella. $135 RRP.

👉 One of the best-value ways to experience serious Serralunga Barolo — and an outstanding bottle to put in the cellar for the next decade or more.