The classiest and most historic of addresses in Alba belongs to Pio Cesare, with their cellars built into the town’s 2000-year-old Roman walls.
Their Ornato and Mosconi crus are situated in the Serralunga valley, which creates powerful, long-lived Barolos. The advantage of the 2020 vintage is that you get all the layers and nuance from these impressive Nebbiolo sites, but with a mid-weight body and smooth approachability. This means you can try a bottle now and confidently cellar the others until 2050.
The Ornato cru, in the Serralunga d’Alba sub-region, has been in the family since 1985 and sits at an altitude of 370m. Densely textured and dark fruited with a violet top note, it delivers great potency and mineral prowess.
The prestigious Mosconi was first produced in 2015 and comes from the sub-region of Monforte d’Alba at 380m altitude, right next to Serralunga. Here you’ll find more red than black fruit, with plenty of spice, blue flowers and dried herbs on the nose. The palate is smoother and silkier than the Ornato, which is all about structure. Very long, very balanced, this Barolo has ‘an especially elegant’ personality, says the Wine Advocate.
For more immediate satisfaction, try the delectable Pio Cesare Rosy Langhe Rosato 2023. It’s fresh and saline with great depth, showing pomegranate, red cherries, dried roses, zesty citrus and a creamy, well-structured finish.
Try their entire range here.
Tasting Notes:
‘Ornato has been the Pio Cesare estate’s cru since 1985. In 2020, the grapes were harvested on 5 October, after the heavy rainfall. Mineral and smoky, with intense violet notes alongside cherry kernel and rhubarb, it’s full of graphite flavour and almost zestiness on the palate, supported by tight-knit tannins. Polished and thick on the finish. ’Compared to 2019, we used gentler extractions in 2020,’ explains Federica Boffa, now in charge at Pio Cesare.’ – Aldo Fiordelli, Decanter, 96/100
‘The most powerful of the bunch is the Pio Cesare 2020 Barolo Ornato. This is a structured wine with firm tannins and dense fruit that falls on the darker side of the spectrum with blackberry and damson plum. You also get that typical Serralunga d’Alba imprint of rusty mineral and dark licorice. The wine is quite ample in terms of volume and depth, and iy’s definitely reflective of its territory of origin. Production is 12,325 bottles, and larger formats were also made.’ – Monica Larner, Wine Advocate, 95/100
Pio Cesare Barolo Mosconi 2020
‘Mosconi opens with an appealing rusty scent which mingles with macerated cherry and balsamic herbs. It’s vertical in character, with more of a red-fruit profile compared to the broader, palate-spanning, dark-fruited Ornato. Dusty tannins and sapid red and black cherry at the core are surrounded by flecks of orange peel, iron, salt, herbs, black pepper and oak. A pretty, complex and ageworthy Barolo.’ – James Button, Decanter, 96/100
‘With fruit from Montforte d’Alba, the Pio Cesare 2020 Barolo Mosconi was first produced in 2015. Although the winery team has more than five years of experience with Mosconi, Cesare Benvenuto tells me that there was a steep learning curve with this wine. Mosconi is 300 meters removed from Ornato; however, the results are quite different, especially in terms of the mouthfeel. Mosconi shows silky or velvety tannins, and Ornato is more structured. This wine is lifted in terms of aromas, with bright raspberry and blue flowers. It reveals an open but translucent quality that gives this Barolo an especially elegant and undertone personality. Production is 6,900 bottles.’ – Monica Larner, Wine Advocate, 95/100
