From the atlas
Mauro Sebaste
At A Glance
Producer: Mauro Sebaste Type: Family estate Base: Alba, Piemonte, Italy Appellations: Barolo DOCG, Roero Arneis DOCG, Barbera d'Alba DOC, Barbera d'Asti DOCG, Dolcetto d'Alba DOC, Nebbiolo d'Alba DOC, Alta Langa DOCG Grapes: Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, Arneis Vineyards: 30 hectares across more than ten communes in Langhe, Roero, and Monferrato Astigiano Range: Two tiers: selection line (longer-aged) and classic line (fresher, earlier drinking)
The Producer
In the 1950s, a woman named Sylla Dogliani was bottling Barolo in Alba at a time when no woman ran a wine business in the area. The local winery association later credited her as the first female entrepreneur in the zone, and she became known as La Dama di Langa. Her son Mauro grew up inside that tradition, then left the family business in 1991 to build his own estate in Alba.
Mauro Sebaste founded his winery with a single goal: produce high-quality wines under his own name. He built around Serralunga d'Alba as the primary source for Barolo, then drew a vineyard map that now covers more than ten communes across Langhe, Roero, and Monferrato Astigiano. His wife Maria Teresa joined the work from the beginning. In 2018, daughters Sylla and Angelica joined the company, completing a three-generation arc with a pioneering woman at each end.
The estate now manages 30 hectares and divides its range into a selection line built for the cellar and a classic line built for earlier drinking. Both lines share the same cellar approach: no chemicals in vinification, and wood contact exclusively through large casks and tonneaux.
Place
Alba sits at the centre of southern Piemonte, flanked by the Langhe hills to the south and the Roero to the north across the Tanaro river. Most of Mauro Sebaste's vineyard work fans out from this hub across three distinct geographies, each producing wines with a different character.
The Langhe hills, which include the Barolo zone, give Nebbiolo its most serious form: firm tannin, high acidity, and the capacity to age. Serralunga d'Alba, the estate's primary Barolo source, sits at the eastern end of the Barolo appellation, where the compact Helvetian marl produces wines that need time to open. La Morra, Verduno, and Monforte d'Alba contribute Nebbiolo for the multi-terroir Trèsüri Barolo.
North of the Tanaro, the Roero is sandier and lighter in soil character, and this is where Arneis, a white grape native to the zone, produces its freshest and most aromatic wines. East of Alba, the Monferrato Astigiano around Vinchio and Nizza Monferrato is limestone-rich territory where Barbera grows with darker fruit and more body than the Langhe versions.
The Alta Langa parcels in Mango, Montelupo, and Diano d'Alba sit above 500 metres, where cooler temperatures give the base wine for sparkling naturally high acidity.
Soil And Site
Serralunga d'Alba rests on compact Helvetian marl, one of the most austere soil types in the Barolo zone. The marl holds heat poorly and drains quickly, which forces Nebbiolo roots deep and slows ripening. The tannin that results is firm and slow to resolve, which is why Cerretta, the estate's single-cru Barolo from this commune, is built for cellaring rather than immediate drinking.
The Santa Rosalia ridge, running between Diano d'Alba and Grinzane Cavour, holds the estate's classic-line parcels for Dolcetto, Barbera, and Nebbiolo d'Alba. These hillside sites ripen earlier than Serralunga and produce fruit with more approachable tannin.
The Roero's sandy glacial soils give Arneis lighter body and an aromatic lift that the heavier Langhe soils would suppress. In the Alta Langa, limestone and clay at altitude combine with a shorter growing season to push acidity and freshness into the sparkling base wine.
Story
Sylla Dogliani started with Barolo in the 1950s, when the Barolo zone was small, local, and dominated by men. She carved out a position as the first woman to run a wine business in the Alba area, and the name La Dama di Langa followed her.
Mauro left the family enterprise in 1991 and started again under his own name. The decision was not a rupture but a redirection: he kept the central idea, Serralunga Barolo built for time, while building a vineyard map that reached further than his mother's original frame. The expansion into Vinchio came in 2014, when the estate acquired two parcels, then added two more in Nizza Monferrato.
The Alta Langa sparkling wine came later still, after a dedicated period of research and study into the high-altitude appellation. Each addition extended the estate's geography without diluting the core: Serralunga Barolo remains the anchor of the range.
When Sylla and Angelica joined in 2018, the estate passed into a new generation with the same founding instinct intact.
Vineyards And Cellar
The 30 hectares are farmed across multiple communes, with each site matched to the grape it suits. Nebbiolo for Barolo goes to Serralunga, La Morra, Verduno, and Monforte d'Alba. Dolcetto, Barbera d'Alba, and Nebbiolo d'Alba occupy the Santa Rosalia ridge. Arneis goes to the Roero. Barbera d'Asti and Nizza DOCG come from the Vinchio and Nizza Monferrato parcels.
In the cellar, the approach is deliberately classical. Vinification uses technology to manage temperature and hygiene but no corrective chemicals. Wood contact happens only in large casks and tonneaux, which means slower, gentler extraction of flavour and oxygen than small barriques would give. Wines carry fruit character without a layer of oak flavour over it.
Cerretta undergoes extended French-oak maturation before bottling. Trèsüri is vinified and matured as three separate components before blending, so each vineyard source is read individually before any assembly decision is made. The Roero Arneis combines two contrasting vineyard components on the lees, which adds weight and body to a grape that can otherwise feel thin.
Wines
The range divides cleanly into two tiers. The selection line contains wines characterised by longer ageing and great complexity. The classic line contains fresher, more carefree wines.
Barolo Cerretta is 100% Nebbiolo from the single cru of the same name in Serralunga d'Alba. Extended maturation in French oak produces a wine with firm, drying tannin, high acidity, and a red-fruit core tinged with rose, violet, mint, and rhubarb. The tannin is slow to resolve and the wine rewards five or more years in the bottle.
Barolo Trèsüri is also 100% Nebbiolo, blended from three vineyard components sourced from different Barolo communes and vinified separately. The name encodes the method: three terroirs, assembled only after individual ageing in a combination of French-oak casks and tonneaux. Trèsüri is full and harmonious, with beautiful shades of cherry, rose and sweet licorice, soft tannins, and a long, persistent palate.
Roero Arneis DOCG is produced from two contrasting Roero parcels combined after partial lees ageing. White peach, pear, and almond sit over a light, mineral body with fresh acidity.
Barbera d'Asti DOCG Valdevani comes from the Vinchio and Nizza Monferrato parcels in Monferrato Astigiano. Darker fruit than the Langhe Barbera: black cherry, plum, and firmer grip.
Dolcetto d'Alba Contessa Rosalia and Barbera d'Alba Contessa Rosalia are both from the Santa Rosalia ridge, soft and approachable, built for the table rather than the cellar.
The Alta Langa sparkling wine comes from high-altitude parcels above 500 metres and is built on a base wine with naturally high acidity.
In The Glass
Barolo Cerretta opens with dried rose, violet, and red cherry, with a faint herbal thread of mint and rhubarb beneath the fruit. In the mouth, the Serralunga marl makes itself felt immediately: the tannin is dry, firm, and granular, gripping the gum line and framing a long, high-acid finish. There is no sweetness and no oak flavour, just fruit, acidity, and mineral grip. Young bottles are tight and angular; five or more years softens the edges without losing the line.
Trèsüri is full and harmonious, with beautiful shades of cherry, rose and sweet licorice, soft tannins, and a long, persistent palate.
The Roero Arneis is fresh and light-bodied, with white stone fruit and an almond note on the finish, brightened by the sandy Roero soils and the lees contact that keeps it from feeling thin. The Barbera d'Asti Valdevani is darker and more substantial: dense black cherry, mouth-coating acidity, and enough weight to carry food.
A Bottle To Understand It
Barolo Cerretta is the right first bottle. This is a wine built for time, and opening it with five or more years of bottle age gives the tannin room to settle without losing the freshness that holds it together.
Anecdote
In the 1950s, Sylla Dogliani decided to bottle Barolo under her own label in a zone where no woman had run a wine business. The local winery association later credited her as the first female entrepreneur in the Alba area, and the nickname La Dama di Langa attached itself to her and stayed. Her son Mauro left the family business in 1991 and started again under his own name, and when it came time to name his daughters, one of them became Sylla. Sylla and Angelica joined the company in 2018.
Final Word
Mauro Sebaste is a Piemontese estate with a clear geography and a clear argument: Serralunga Barolo at its centre, a broad range of Piemontese grapes around it, and a cellar philosophy that keeps wood in a supporting role. The family thread from Sylla Dogliani to her granddaughters gives the estate a particular kind of continuity, but the wines are firm, honest, built for the table and for time.
Sources
- https://maurosebaste.it/en/company/
- https://maurosebaste.it/en/wine/
- https://cantinedialba.it/en/sebaste.php
- https://maurosebaste.it/vino_inglese/cerretta/
- https://maurosebaste.it/vino_inglese/tresuri/
- https://maurosebaste.it/vino_inglese/arneis/