We have produced Barolo at Serralunga d’Alba from 1967, Barolo Vigna Cucco since 1986, Menzione Cerrati since 1996, and Bricco Voghera since the vintage of 2017.
The estates’ cellar was built in 1966 by the Stroppiana family, while in previous years the grapes produced here were selected and purchased by the finest winemakers of the zone, who had bidding wars to use them for the composition of their most outstanding Barolo wines.
In our cellar we work with 23 barrels with a capacity of 25 to 30 hectoliters, in Slavonian and Austrian oak, and 60 barriques in French oak with medium toasting.
The Barolo D.O.C.G. of the municipality of Serralunga d’Alba, which comes from the traditional designation Bricco Voghera and from the lower part of the Cerrati, is aged for two years in barrels of 25 hectoliters in French, Austrian and Slavonian oak. From the 2020 vintage, a part is fermented and aged in an oak vat.
Barolo D.O.C.G. Bricco Voghera made its debut on the market with the 2017 vintage: it comes from a vineyard located at the start of Serralunga, of about 2 hectares. Like Barolo D.O.C.G. Cerrati, our other cru, it is aged for 30 months in barrels of Slavonian oak.
Barolo D.O.C.G. Cerrati Vigna Cucco Riserva, on the other hand, is aged for a period of three years in entirely new French oak barriques.
"Le nostre scelte di invecchiamento scaturiscono dalla volontà di valorizzare il carattere polifenolico dei vini di Tenuta Cucco. Vogliamo esaltarne le grandi potenzialità d’invecchiamento senza sopraffare le caratteristiche specifiche del vitigno. Ci mettiamo, per così dire, in ascolto."
Piero Ballario, enologo di Tenuta Cucco e La Raia
Tenuta Cucco produces about 70,000 bottles of wine per year, of which the largest percentage is that of Barolo from the Cucco vineyard and the Cerrati and Bricco Voghera vineyards. The vines range in age from 20 to 53 years, with low quantitative yield to ensure high product quality.
In the summer months the grapes are sampled and analyzed repeatedly to select the ideal date of harvest. When ripe, they are gathered by hand in perforated crates and pressed over a span of just a few hours.
The Chardonnay is soft-pressed and, after static decantation, the fermentation is deduced for white wine production at a controlled temperature of 16-18°C for twenty days. The red grapes, after destemming and crushing, are fermented at a controlled temperature of about 26°C, with daily pump-overs (remontage) to extract color, aromas and polyphenols.
The Chardonnay is not subjected to malolactic fermentation, in order to preserve greater freshness.
In the cases of Dolcetto and Langhe Nebbiolo, the maceration with skins lasts just 4-5 days. After racking, the alcoholic fermentation is completed without the skins (white), thus enhancing bouquet and smoothness of flavor.
For Barbera and Barolo wines, when the alcoholic fermentation is finished, the maceration continues with the skins, respectively for 8 and 30 days (submerged cap), granting the future wines excellent complexity and longevity.
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