This historic family-owned estate is named after its founder Cesare Pio, who established the business in 1881. The winery is based in Alba, in the heart of Piemonte and is now run by Federica Boffa and Cesare Benvenuto, the fifth generation of the family. Pio Cesare developed Barolo’s reputation overseas in the 1950s by being one of the first producers to export the wine to the UK. The founder’s great grandson Pio Boffa was deeply convinced of the importance of cultivating and growing owned land to produce high quality wines and played a key role in the acquisition of vineyards in the same locations where Cesare Pio used to buy his grapes from. Today Pio Cesare owns 70 hectares in the hills of Barolo and Barbaresco and makes wines in a style that manages to balance the best of the old with the best of the new. The estate includes most of the municipalities in the Barolo and Barbaresco areas.
The grapes are sourced exclusively from family owned vineyards in Treiso (Il Bricco, San Stefanetto and Bongiovanni) and in San Rocco Seno d’Elvio (Rocche di Massalupo).
After pressing, the grape juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks and was left in contact with the skins for around 25-30 days. The majority of the wine was then aged in French oak traditional “botti” for around 30 months, while a small proportion is aged in barriques.
A cold and rainy winter allowed water reserve to replenish fully. Budbreak was delayed by lower than usual temperatures during spring but a temperate and sunny summer allowed for perfect ripening. 2018 can be considered a classic vintage, with grapes of excellent quality and yields slightly impacted by few areas that showed blind buds.
Pio Cesare excels when it comes to the classics, and this wine is one of those. The 2018 Barbaresco (released one year later compared to its peers) delivers some mild candied raspberry ripeness with lilac, tarry smoke, cedarwood and spice. The mouthfeel is silky smooth with softly integrated tannins. (Monica Larner, Wine Advocate)
Serve with red meat dishes, game or seasonal truffle, mature cheeses.
Serve at 16-18°C.
93 points – Wine Advocate, Monica Larner
94 points – Jamie Goode
Barbaresco DOCG, Piemonte
100% Nebbiolo
Natural cork
Yes
Yes
