I had the great pleasure of spending a few hours with Roberto Voerzio tasting through his entire range at the end of 2015. He speaks little English and my Italian is average. Together we spoke enough French to open a revealing dialogue. In many ways he reminded me of Doc. from Yarra Yering. Take a look at the footage in the Wine Bites Mag – Roberto Voerzio Winemaker Session.
Apologies for the quality of the video and lack of editing. It was filmed before my major technology upgrade! It’s long, but, there are little nuggets of gold for the Barolo lovers out there! It covers his 2011 Baroli and 2004 Barbera and Riserva. Roberto discusses the vineyards for each wine, his viticultural and winemaking philosophies, the controversies of modernist vs traditionalist winemaking in Barolo and much more. We currently have an offer for his 2013 Baroli along with the Barbera and Riserva from 2007.
Big shoutout to Sally McGill for her massive effort translating for us!
Extreme passion and dedication to quality. Constantly pushing to grow better grapes and make better wine. Seeking harmony, sophistication, purity, layers and layers of aroma and flavour. His vineyards are tended as though they were his children. Yields miniscule. He works to drive the roots of his vines deep into the ground, and, feed them with compost rather than chemical fertiliser. You can see the mid-row trenching and composting below. With great pride he holds tiny bunches of Nebbiolo destined for his Barolo.
Thoughts on the 2011’s & friends
The Wines
The standard of Roberto Voerzio’s wines is insane.
Bracket 1
Challenge tasting these so young. This is the first vintage where no pressings were added. The ferments are simply allowed to drain off and drip for for 20mins to an hour under the weight of their own skins. Beyond this Roberto believes a vegetal character that he does not like starts to come through. Beautiful acidity in all of the 2011’s with a core of fruit. From the La Serra to the Brunate they move from feminine to masculine in style.
2011 Barolo La Serra 750ml Cork 14.5% – La Mora: The highest and coolest of Roberto’s vineyard at 380-400m above sea level. Feminine, charming wine, elegant, delicate and beautifully balanced. Opened beautifully in the glass offering intrigue and an enticing perfume. Stunning palate with length and juicy acid.
2011 Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziate 750ml Cork 14.5% – La Mora: Fuller rounder and more savoury than the La Serra. Great core of fruit with beautiful even tannin. Incredible drive, layers of yumminess, beautiful floral perfume. It had an edge over the La Serra at the moment. I suspect this may change in time. They are all very young and not necessarily showing there full potential.
2011 Barolo Brunate 750ml Cork 14.5% – La Mora: The lowest altitude of the wines. Big, bold, dark. More oak, not overt, just present, and firm structure. A much riper fuller style with plenty of appeal around the room. If forced to chose between these exception wine it would be 3/3 of the 2011 for me.
Bracket 2
2010 Barolo Torriglione Vigneto Riserva, Magnum Cork 15% – La Mora: Muscular, dark wine with density, alcohol lift and finsih. Great length of tannin, incredible complexity. This site had 3 faces East, South and West.
2009 Barolo La Serra,750ml, Cork 14.5% – La Mora $N/A: Stunning wine. Incredibly expressive. So many layers of perfection, intrigue and yumminess. Close to perfection.
Bracket 3
2008 Barolo Riserva Vecchie Viti dei Capalot e delle Brunate Magnum Cork 14.5% – La Mora: Edge of pooh, opened and blew off. Again layers and layers of personality, beautiful, fresh, so much going on with everything in place. Roberto so this as similar to the 2001, 1998 and 1988 vintages. 2015 was the last vintage of Roberto’s lease of the Capalot vineyard.
2007 Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziate / Torriglione 750ml Cork 14.5% – La Mora: 2/3 Rocche 1/3 Torriglione. The vineyards are now split into two separate wines. This bottle was a little flat.
2004 Barolo Riserva Fossati Case Nere 10 Anni 750ml Cork 14.5% – La Mora: Blend of the Fossati and Case Nere vineyards. These have been separated from 2010 on. Extraordinary wine. Incredibly youthful. Everything in it’s place. Intoxicating perfume. Amazing structure, layers and layers of flavour. OFF TAP! Plans to release the Fossati at 7 years old and Case Nere at 10 years old (Riserva).
Bracket 4
2004 Barbera d’Alba Pozzo dell’Annunziata Magnum Cork 14.5% – La Mora: Where many producers of Barolo have removed Barbera from their best sites in favour of the more lucrative Nebbiolo, Roberto has maintained his plantings. The results are stunning. Full, rich, juicy fruit, incredible layers, has everything. Structure more like a Barolo. Incredibly complete generous wine of personality.
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