Our history

Renato Ratti is born. Instead of following his family’s long tradition in the fields of medicine and veterinary science, he chooses years of training at The Enological School of Alba, together with a generation of revolutionaries destined to become the leading lights of the future success of Barolo.

Two experiences prove to be of fundamental importance to Renato: the exploration of Burgundy with the discovery of “cru geography”, a certain infatuation for Bordeaux with its concept of “value” and then his professional experience in Brazil with Cinzano, where he oversaw the production of Vermouth and vineyard cultivation from 1955 to 1965. These are fundamental years for his professional formation and for the innovative ideas that he would soon be developing for the Langhe wine district.

Renato Ratti marries Beatrice Sitia from Genoa. It was during the first visit to the Belvedere of La Morra with its spectacular view of the surrounding hills that Renato and Beatrice are indelibly won over by this amazing wine country.

“This is the Promised Land,” resolves Beatrice Sitia Ratti

Renato returns to Piedmont and purchases his first vineyard dedicated to the production of Barolo. It’s a small parcel in the historical zone denominated “Marcenasco”, right below the Abbey of La Morra, consecrated to the Most Holy Annunciation.

The Abbey reflects the idea of the French Chateaux, that is to say, important buildings gracing the landscape, becoming the very symbol of local wine cellars. The choice of this venerable construction is tied to its history, which has been deeply connected to the nebbiolo grape variety for more than five hundred years.

The ancient Abbey witnesses the vinification of the first Barolo Marcenasco, entirely deriving from a single vineyard.

Renato is joined by his nephew, Massimo Martinelli. Also an enologist, he participates in perfecting the techniques of vinification, aging and refinement of the cellar’s Barolo Marcenasco.

“The uniqueness of a determined origin subarea as well as its demarcation, the classification of the various vintages, their period of bottle refinement as a mean to add in smoothness, elegance and longevity in the wines, are three personally experienced moments, three concepts that I consider as the foundational principles of a new winemaking style”, Renato Ratti, 1971.

The periods of fermentation and maceration are shortened as is the period of barrel maturation which is reduced to two years. Refinement in bottles gains fundamental importance in the temporal evolution of a Barolo Marcenasco – a profoundly innovative method for that area.

The Marcenasco, Conca and Rocche vineyards of La Morra are expanded. And the Colombè vineyards in Mango as well as those connected to the Villa Pattono property in Costigliole d’Asti are renovated.

The Ratti “Wines of Alba” Museum is inaugurated and becomes an important destination for the numerous visitors who wish to enrich their knowledge of Barolo and the wines of the Langhe district.

“The Ratti Museum is one of the most important historical museums we have in Piedmont,” Piercarlo Grimaldi, Anthropologist and Academic, Rector of the Pollenzo-Bra University of Gastronomic Studies from 2011 to 2017.

For the Ratti Museum, he creates the Barolo Vintage Chart and the first chart of the historical subzones of Barolo and Barbaresco, which in 2010 is “acknowledged” and taken into account by those wines’ respective regulatory boards.

In 1973, he invents the Albeisa bottle, the vessel that will become iconic for the wines of Piedmont.

Renato Ratti becomes an important point of reference not only for the wines of the Langhe district but for Italian wines in general.

“Ratti begins working for the cultural recovery of wine”, Angelo Gaja

Riveste la carica di Presidente del Consorzio del Barolo e successivamente di direttore del Consorzio dell’Asti. Partecipa direttamente alla stesura dei disciplinari di produzione dei vini albesi, in particolare della DOCG. A partire dal 1971 scrive numerosi libri sui vini piemontesi e italiani.

He holds the office of President of the Barolo Consortium and successively also becomes the Director of the Asti Consortium. He directly participates in the drafting of the procedural guidelines for the production of Alba wines, and in particular of the DOCG category (controlled and guaranteed designation of origin). Starting from 1971, he writes many books about Piedmontese and Italian wines.

Enologist, writer, historian, communicator, Renato Ratti stands out as one of the leading exponents of the cultural and technical revolution that changes the world of Italian and Piedmontese wines.

After the premature death of Renato, his son Pietro enters the company. BORN IN 1968, he has just graduated from the Alba Enological School (the same institute his father had attended).

Pietro carries on the work of extending and restructuring the family’s vineyards. And he continues the ongoing studies regarding the uniqueness of the various dedicated subzones.

Construction of the new wine cellar in the Annunziata hamlet is completed. Its particular structure is designed to guarantee the continuation of the work of vinification and refinement initiated by Renato Ratti in 1965, that is, to maintain the absolute respect for the grapes and vineyards of origin.

“Quality, research, passion, respect for our history and our territory with openness towards the future, are the underlying principles of our philosophy and the expression of our wines”, Pietro Ratti

Pietro Ratti continues to follow the pathway blazed by Renato. If yesterday the primary goal was to build, today it is to conserve. A philosophy that joins production requirements with respect for the territory, the culture and sustainability.