A crisp, fruity white with sliced-apple and white-peach character. Medium body and a stony, sliced-lemon aftertaste. Drink now.
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The story of the Enrico Serafino winery is the story of Roero, one of Piedmont’s key winegrowing areas. Roero faces the famous Langhe hills across the Tanaro River in the northeast part of Cuneo Province, and together with Monferrato to the east, Roero and Langhe are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site for their beauty and their winemaking traditions. Enrico Serafino is the oldest winery in the area, having been established by a gentleman of the same name in Canale d’Alba in 1878. The winery has now been in operation continuously in its original location for 140 years.
In typical Piemontese fashion, founder Enrico Serafino made a wide array of different wines, using grapes grown in areas that even then were known for their high quality, such as Barolo and Gavi. Under modern laws, the wines of a denomination must normally be made inside the specified winegrowing boundaries, but this was long before the first DOC laws were passed in Italy, and it was not unusual for wineries to bring in fruit from any number of neighboring communes. Due to its very long history of making Barolo in Canale, the Enrico Serafino winery is grandfathered as an exception to the requirement to vinify Barolo inside the limits of the Barolo DOCG. Today the winery owns 25 acres of Barolo vineyards in the renowned areas of Serralunga, Monforte d'Alba, and Castiglione Falletto and also makes traditional red wines of Barbera d'Alba and Nebbiolo d'Alba.
Less typically, Serafino in 1878 also began making metodo classico sparkling wines. At that time, sparkling wines as we know them today (wines that were clear of yeast sediment and didn't routinely explode) were a relative novelty. The process had really been mastered in Champagne only a couple of decades earlier, and the procedures and technology were just starting to be available outside Champagne. But sparkling Moscato was beginning to be made in Piedmont, and Serafino was a trailblazer for the nascent industry.
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LOCATIONWINERY: Canale (Cuneo province), Piedmont VINEYARD: Barolo (Serralunga & La Morra), Langhe, Roero, Alta Langa VIEW IN GOOGLE MAPS REGION DETAILS |
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90
AUGUST 2020
Enrico Serafino "Grifo del Quartaro" Gavi del Comune di Gavi 2019
A crisp, fruity white with sliced-apple and white-peach character. Medium body and a stony, sliced-lemon aftertaste. Drink now. DECEMBER 2020
Enrico Serafino Barolo Serralunga DOCG 2016
This family produced wine from the commune of Serralunga has a light prune color and aromas of raspberries, cranberries, plums, graphite, black pepper and young—and yet unpicked—strawberries. Tannic in the mouth, but well matched with acidity and tastes that include those of raspberries, prunes and morel mushrooms. This is fresh and approachable and buzzing with ripe young fruit flavors—consider it the Fleurie of Barolo. 94
JANUARY 2024
Enrico Serafino "Monclivio" Barolo DOCG 2018
Aromas of violet, rose, red berry and botanical herb form the fragrant nose. Linear, elegantly structured and savory, this shows great class and energy, offering juicy red cherry, cranberry, star anise and citrusy notes framed in taut, fine-grained tannins and bright acidity. Drink 2025–2034. 90
NOVEMBER 2020
Enrico Serafino Barolo Serralunga DOCG 2015
The Krause family bought this Roero based winery in 2015 and also acquired 4.9 vineyard acres in Serralunga d’Alba to make the first vintage of this comune wine. Serafino’s vines are located in the Carpena and Meriame crus, both on Serralunga’s western slopes. The wine shows both the ripeness of the warm 2015 vintage and the powerful tannins characteristic of Serralunga. It rested in tonneaux and larger oak casks for 28 months, gaining notes of smoke and spice that accent the dark cherry fruit. 90
DECEMBER 2023
Enrico Serafino "Oudeis" Alta Langa DOCG Brut 2018
Crisp and clean, with a soft, satiny mousse and a minerally underpinning, layered with flavors of white raspberry and white cherry fruit, lemon zest, spring blossoms and fresh herbs. Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Drink now. 92
DECEMBER 2021
Enrico Serafino Barolo Serralunga DOCG 2016
Plum, spice, chocolate and leather flavors mingle in this round, open red. There are tannins that emerge on the finish, yet overall this is balanced and long. Best from 2024 through 2042. 100 cases made, 30 cases imported. 91
DECEMBER 2022
Enrico Serafino "Oudeis" Alta Langa DOCG Brut Rosé 2018
The 2018 Brut Rosé Oudeis is delicate and understated in the glass; rose, chalk dust and wild strawberry nuances form its bouquet. This is round and pliant on the palate with a salty flourish of mineral-tinged bubbles giving way to tart orchard fruits and sour citrus hints. The Oudeis Brut Rosé puckers the cheeks as a pretty inner sweetness lingers and ginger notes slowly fade. 92
JANUARY 2021
Enrico Serafino "Oudeis" Alta Langa DOCG Brut 2016
Made with 85% Pinot Nero and 15% Chardonnay, this has inviting aromas of bread dough, red berry, eucalyptus and baking spice. The aromas follow through to the focused palate, along with pomegranate, hazelnut and star anise set against a refined perlage. Vibrant acidity lifts the finish. |