Luigi Baudana is one of the last garagiste estates still operating in the Langhe region. It is also the smallest of all the VinConnect Piemontese wineries. In 2009, Francesca, Isidoro and Guiseppe, the three children of famed Aldo and Milena Vajra of G.D Vajra, joined the Baudana family to bring new energies and an uncompromised respect to this story.

A true “village” expression of Serralunga d’Alba Barolo, the organic and biodynamic vineyard is currently a cooperative effort between Baudana and the G.D. Vajra winery. The location is a highly prized vineyard site on a south and south-east facing slope of Serralunga. Cerretta (formerly Cerretta Piani) is 0.8 hectares of calcerous marl yielding 40 hl/ha.

A release of 3,000 bottles, the Luigi Baudana 2017 Barolo Cerretta is the most downplayed of these three wines and the least complicated from an aromatic point of view. A first wave of aromas is focused on wild rose and crushed flowers. More robust tones of ripe cherry, rusty earth and dark spice follow in time. This edition of Cerretta is surprisingly delicate and fine, going against almost everything we know about robust fruit from Serralunga d'Alba and the powerful 2017 vintage. The wine is counterintuitive in a way only Nebbiolo can be. Tasted: June 2021; Rating: 93 Points; Monica Larner; Robert Parker's The Wine Advocate

Pretty ripe offering here, sooty, dark plum and red berries, new leather and menthol. Full-bodied, liquorice and stewed plum, firm graphite tannin, a bit of warmth, but with a stony ‘mineral’ feel to tannin. Juicy baked fruit and earthy flavours to close. A bit of a thumper, but very good. Tasted: June 2021; Alcohol: 15%; Price: $183; Closure: Cork; Drink: 2023-2033+; Rated: 94+ Points; Gary Walsh; The Wine Front