The Ratti name is one of the most famous in Barolo. In the early 1960s, Renato Ratti returned to his native Piedmont after ten years working for Cinzano in Brazil and France. With regional knowledge but a global perspective, he purchased a small plot of land in the village of La Morra and set up a makeshift winery in the abandoned 14th-century Abby dell’Annunziata. It was there, in 1965, that he made his first ‘cru’ wine, called ‘Marcenasco,’ after the historical name for the region.

Around that same time, Renato Ratti made the first map of the Barolo Crus, effectively introducing the commercial idea of terroir to Italian wine. A towering figure, Renato Ratti died prematurely in 1988. His son, Pietro, took over the estate at just 20 years old and has been the winemaker for more than 30 years.

Pietro has carried on his father’s vision of elegant La Morra Barolo, but recent vintages have found Pietro leaning towards more classical expressions. It is an evolution of his father’s approach that is resulting in the best wines of Ratti’s storied history.