After working for many years under the guidance of the legendary Barolo producer Luciano Sandrone, Cecilia Monte set up her own winery in the northern-most cru of Barbaresco - Neive - in 2000. We have been so impressed with the wines we have tasted from this estate we wanted to sit down with Cecilia to find out how she does it! Her single vineyard Serracapelli is really a very special bottle of wine and worthy of any fine wine collector's attention...
The Langhe in general is an amazing area of Piemonte. There are vineyards everywhere and they change so much during the year. The Barbaresco area has smaller hills than the Barolo area but so there is much more variety of landscape in the different crus.
*Click here to read our interview with Aldo Vacca for a full overview of the varied terroirs within Barbaresco.
Serracapelli is the Northern cru of the Barbaresco area and so, as with any border land, has some peculiarities. It is high in altitude and the soil is very calcareous and easy draining. The grapes suffer more, so the expression of the fruit is to give wines in which elegance is prevailing over power and structure.
I studied Economics so I learned how to work in vineyards by working on the land. I worked for a long time in the Luciano Sandrone winery. He taught me some methods over and above the traditional methods. The main difference between Barolo and Barbaresco is that we are always one week earlier to harvest in the season.
My mother’s family owned the property for a long time. They used to rent the vineyards to a sharecropper. It was only in the late 70’s that my father, who descended from a family of Moscato farmers, took back the use of the vineyard for his personal hobby. He was a doctor in Turin. He had a big passion for the land which he transmitted to me. So actually I started the winery by myself and he continued helping me only in the vineyards.
We are not so few but most of them are daughters to a male producer so maybe their names are not yet known. But definitely there are very few of the wineries managed directly by women and I cannot think about another winery in Barbaresco area that has a feminine name. Is there another one...?!!
In my opinion the most important aspect is to keep the plants healthy so they can grow grapes in the best way. We have minimised the use of chemical products in the vineyards to the minimum quantities and only when it is really absolutely necessary - all in the awareness that their abuse can be dangerous. Healthy plants and fruit allow us to transform grapes into wine in the most simple way.
The old town of Neive is very charming and definitely worth a visit. We also have some very interesting and famous restaurants such as La Ciau del Tornavento; Piazza Duomo; Guido da Costigliole but it is also very interesting to discover our traditional cuisine in some trattorias such as Ostu d’djun in Castagnito; and Trattoria Posta da Camulin in Cossano Belbo.
Dolcetto is a simple, fruity wine which is ideal for everyday meals and is also good with salami and cheeses plus for most antipasti in general. Barbera is an important wine which requires more structured food such as Tagliolini with ragù and other pasta dishes. Barbaresco (from the Nebbiolo grape) goes mainly with meat and can also support more strongly flavoured dishes.
Except for Dolcetto, which I try to keep low in alcohol every year and which should be drunk young, it is better to age my wines in bottle for a minimum of one year (and they can also, of course, be cellared for many years). So normally the release of these particular wines is later than my colleagues' wines.
I think that both are really excellent vintages. If I have to say, the 2016 vintage in particular has been a perfect year for the weather, and therefore also for the plants and the grapes.
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