Sergio Germano of Ettore Germano in Serralunga. Huon Hooke
Sergio Germano, oenologist and principal of the Ettore Germano winery in Serralunga d’Alba, could not have foreseen the outcome of his choice of luncheon wines.
Following a memorable visit to his winery in the Baudana district of Serralunga, fellow The Real Review contributor Steve Blandford and I accompanied Sergio for lunch. He had just shown us the 2021, 22 and 23 vintages of his prized Barolos out of barrel, and the 2020s out of bottle, so I was fairly au fait with his wines.
Those diehards who allege that wines do not age correctly under a screwcap would have needed to eat their hats.
Sergio, as we reported here a few weeks ago, was recently appointed president of the local consorzio and is a fan of screwcaps. He’s been using them on his Alta Langa riesling and other wines for some years, and is currently trialling them on his Barolos (but is yet to release one commercially).
With lunch Sergio presented a screw-capped bottle of his 2016 Barolo Ceretta and alongside it, a bottle of another local wine of high pedigree, G.D. Vajra’s 2016 Luigi Baudana Barolo Ceretta. Two top wines from the same vintage and vineyard. The Germano was in great condition, exceedingly complex and starting to enter its mature phase, loaded with sumptuous aromas of veal stock, dried mushroom, roasting-pan juices and still showing great depth of sweet fruit on nose and palate. The tannins were perfectly integrated and
This Article was originally published on The Real Review
