Bricco Ernesto is an amazing place and a fascinating study about the soul of wine, and more specifically the interplay between land, human, and technique. There are many ways to make great wine that we believe results in terroir driven expressions, and then there are those ways that also resonate the most with us, personally.

Furthermore, beyond any technique or philosophy we agree with or disagree with, there is a deeper layer to winemaking (and farming) that cannot be measured, that results in emotional expressions. For us, Bricco Ernesto represents the apex of what we believe great winemaking is – a process of feel that is predisposed to crafting wine that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Bricco Ernesto, as it’s known today under Renato Vezza and his partner Elisa Antonioni, began in 2015. “Bricco” means rounded hilltop in the Piemontese language, and Ernesto was Renato’s grandfather – the hilltop of Ernesto. It’s one of the highest points in Roero, a domed microclimate that requires travel up a long dirt road to access.

We believe an important component to Bricco Ernsto is the fact that Renato was a well respected sommelier in London for years prior. Elisa is from Emilia-Romagna and found her way to Bricco Ernesto; fully embracing a farming life amid a white collar path.

Although Renato has no formal winetasting education, he is very well tasted, with a broad perspective on great wine. Candidly, we’ve always found it surprising to talk to a producer from a region who has never experienced wine from the greatest names of at least of the same region. It’s not about copying, it’s about perspective and curiosity.

Knowing the heights that are achievable, Renato speaks of making the greatest red and white wine in Italy. Of course, it’s a goal that can’t be measured and has limited literal meaning, though it speaks to his mindset. Renato is an intense person who writes nothing down yet always has the gears turning. He has no formal winemaking education, though talks about “knowing the book” yet only drawing from it what makes sense. He is close with other like-minded people such as Luca Roagna and spends time visiting other growers and trying to learn and to also be helpful. If the old Piedmont mentality was that you were less likely to be successful if your neighbor was, Renato believes just the opposite (as the greats in any field tend to think).

He is at once meticulous and non-technical. It really clicked for me when I helped during the 2023 Arneis harvest. I observed so much intensity and quick movement, with minimal technical aspects to the winemaking aside from a gentle pump to move the crushed grapes into concrete, and a refrigerator to bring the bunches just after harvest.

Anything touching the wine was sterilized with boiling water, but they weren’t obsessed with a literal grape by grape sort (even though Nebbiolo is hand destemmed!). We cut what needed to be cut from bunches and that was that. For the first time, I truly understood the magnitude of wine being made in the vineyard, throughout the season.

To this point, Renato and Elisa spend nearly twice the time in the vineyard that other quality minded growers do, yet the vineyard is overgrown and wild. Renato says they are sometimes criticized for it. Only he and Elisa touch the vines during the growing season, citing an energy and vibration they share that would otherwise be lost. We deeply believe in this concept – for them, this is the key that science can’t fully explain it (yet).

The cellar is small and basic, but the fermentation and aging vessels are of exceptional quality. There is a Tava amphora, open topped wooden “tino” fermenter, a handful of concrete tanks and some smaller tonneaux from names such as Stockinger.

Renato’s wines are often finest on day 2 or 3 after being opened, gaining in purity, energy and complexity. Renato says its all good land and good farming (always organic but Biodynamic beginning in 2022).

Even so, if it seems a little crazy, it’s like “well, maybe…” when the wines are experienced for more than a few minutes. Of course, wines like this don’t do tricks every time you want them to. We find they can require a month of two of rest after being shipped via temp control. They are not immediate wines, though the quality is obvious, and when you have a broader “moment” with them, it’s the kind that sticks with you.

We think of the wines as a crackling fire – hard to pin down yet luminous. As much as we enjoy every experience with these wines, we enjoy barrel tasting the most, as the purity, sensuality, and seamless feel of the wines is immediate and frequently staggering.

On one hand, we could say that these wines aren’t well known because only 4,000 bottles are made a year, between one Rosso (Nebbiolo) and one Bianco (Arneis), so these wines just aren’t around. However, on the other hand, Renato and Elisa work with some legendary importers globally and wines regularly show up at tastings with great bottles of Burgundy and Piedmont wines. I recall going into a restaurant in Barolo with Renato to try wine from an up-and-coming name. The proprietor said the bottles were off menu and we could only have one if Renato increased his allocation to the restaurant by 3 bottles!