Renato Ratti was the founder and developer of modern Barolo. As an innovator, he devised the sub-zones of the Barolo region to express the distinctive characteristics of each zone.  Having no ancestral ties to Barolo, he was able to approach winemaking without restrictive local prejudice and total freedom to produce a “new-style” Barolo. He understood the different characteristics each sub-zone imparted to the Nebbiolo grape, thus giving different flavour profiles to the Barolo. These characteristics eventually gave birth to the requirements for DOCG designation of Barolo. Being able to distinguish the differences between sub-zones, vintages and sun exposure, he was able to tailor his winemaking in order to extract distinction, elegance, smoothness and longevity in his modern Barolo.

After his death in 1988, his son, Pietro Ratti, took over operations and carried forward with the research into the development of the sub-zones and continued his father’s legacy of creating distinctive Barolo. The expansion and further development of the winery has established Ratti Barolo amongst the best of the Piedmont region.

The Winery
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Situated in Piedmont, Italy

In 1965 Renato Ratti bought a small plot of land in the Marcenasco area and this marked the humble beginnings of the Renato Ratti winery. Today, the estate consists of over 35 hectares of vineyards, divided into six properties in La Morra, Mango and Costigliole d’Asti in Piedmont, Italy. Renato Ratti believed that the perfect balance of the vines, the climate, the soil and hard work are the key elements to producing excellent wines. 

The winery cellars were expanded and restructured in 2002 to ensure the continuation of the vinification and refinement philosophy started by Renato Ratti. This allowed consistent quality and guaranteed the distinctive qualities of each single vineyard to shine in the Barolos produced.

The People
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Founder, Renato Ratti, purchased his first plot of land in 1965 and this was the beginning of the Ranato Ratti winery. He was an innovator and quickly began his quest to produce a Barolo wine free of restrictive local prejudices of winemaking. He developed a system of delineating the region into sub-zones and recognized that each vineyard had its own distinctive characteristics which imparted points of difference in the Nebbiolo grapes. He broke down the processes of winemaking into vineyard attributes, vintage differentiation, refinement and ageing to “maintain distinction, smoothness, elegance and longevity.” This crucial philosophy made Renato Ratti a forerunner to “modern-style” Barolo.

After his death in 1988, his son Pietro Ratti took over operations of the winery. He made it his goal to continue the legacy of his father to further develop the demarcation of the sub-zones, continue research of vine development and winemaking, stay passionate about the wine process and respect the principles of the Ratti philosophy, which is evidently expressed in the Ratti Barolo wines.