E. MOLINO
Sergio Molino is a very well-known name in the Piedmontese wine world and far beyond. As a brilliant but timid winemaker, he likes to remain in the background and will not easily be recognized outwardly. Sergio is an oenologist for a large number of wineries in Piedmont, other parts of Italy and even in France. His expertise and passion for winemaking have made him decide to bottle the 2.5 hectares of vineyard in the cru Bricco Rocca in La Morra, which has been in the family since time immemorial. Under the name E.Molino (the E stands for Ernesto and is therefore a tribute to his father who was called that), Sergio bottles about 6 thousand bottles per year, divided into a Barbera Superiore, a Nebbiolo and a Barolo and in good years a Barolo Riserva.
Sergio has an almost obsessive way of making wine in which he wants to understand and, if possible, control every aspect of the land and in the wine cellar. It is not without reason that next to his vineyard in Annunziata, located exactly between Barolo, Castiglione Falletto and La Morra on the Cru Bricco Rocca, there is a laboratory where he studies bacteria and enzymes and where he raises new vine clones.
His ultimate goal is to convey all the intrinsic characteristics of the grape into the glass and lose as little quality as possible during the vinification and aging phases. That sounds very cliché, but it has a range of consequences; the control of ripeness, methods, timing and time of grape transport, sorting and pressing of the grapes. In winemaking itself, it means overcoming a thousand critical moments, minimizing or exposing to oxidation, type of maturing material, duration of maturation, method of fining and possibly filtering, separate vinifications within the same vineyard depending on location.
Sergio is an engaging, at other times impossible, man who takes you into the vineyard and can talk for hours about the wine and the wine making itself and on the other hand he is sometimes unreachable for days, even when you really need him for an upcoming shipment of wine. It will be the mind of the genius, the whims of the master. Fortunately, they are still there, the winemakers who made Barolo great and who provide us with all the pleasure and enjoyment that prevails when we drink a good glass. Sergio is one of those!