Stefano Porro

There is a new Nebbiolo warrior in the Langhe. His name is Stefano Porro. Born in 1993, Stefano took over his family winery in 2019 with a clear goal: to make outstanding terroir-driven wine from his tiny cantina in Serralunga.

The story of the winery goes back to 1966 when Stefano’s grandfather Carlo inherited one hectare of land in “localita’ Cerrati” near Serralunga. From his farm known locally as “Cascina del Toro” (the bull’s farm) – Carlo was allegedly the only farmer with a bull in the area at the time, Carlo raised livestock and farmed a mixture of fruit, grain and grapes to sell in bulk. Carlo also bottled some Barolo and Dolcetto to share with his family and friends.

In 2019, after gaining solid experience working at another local winery, Stefano took over the family vineyard holdings and cantina from his dad determined to make his own mark.

In his first vintage, Stefano released 1,600 bottles of Nebbiolo and 1,000 bottles of Barbera d’Alba Superiore, which were both immediately almost  entirely sold out to local restaurants, friends and family and to a few  “well-informed” Piedmont cognoscenti who had the opportunity to snap a case directly from the winery. In 2023, Stefano is planning to release a new Dolcetto and his highly anticipated inaugural 2019 Barolo (entirely allocated on advance pre-order).

Stefano’s vineyards in Serralunga are on average 25/30yo and located right on the Brea MGA border, which today is entirely under the Brovia monopole. Stefano, however, believes that the Brea designation could soon be extended to include his land, which benefits from an almost identical soil composition and terroir to his famous neighbours. The soil here on the east slope of Serralunga, is composed of mostly clay with veins of limestone that give bold and complex wines with great finesse and excellent drinkability.

Stefano follows sustainable viticulture and is ethos is to let the wine express its terroir in full. The work in the vineyards is  manual and treatments are carried out only when necessary. Stefano uses “Sangue di Bue” (oxblood), an organic manure, to fertilise his soil. Grapes are selected strictly by hand by Stefano during harvest. Yield is approx. 12/13 bunches per vine, but after green harvest and manual selection only 8/9 bunches are used to make Stefano’s wines. This is an important step in the process since fermentation takes place naturally without the addition of any yeast, which requires the grapes to be in perfect condition when the vinification begins. In the cellar all racking processes are carried out strictly by hand to protect the grapes from shocks and unwanted bacteria.

Stefano is fast developing a reputation as a producer to watch in Barolo. Total production is currently around 3,000 btls and at Ultravino we are very excited to playing a role in bringing this exceptional Serralunga micro-winery to the attention of discerning Piedmont fine wine lovers.