Barolo, La Serra, 2008

The 2008 Barolo La Serra emerges from the glass with dark red fruit, tar, smoke, licorice, spices and new leather. Today the 2008 comes across as surprisingly dark and masculine. The high-toned floral notes that are typical of this site have been replaced by a much darker, brooding register filled with tar, incense and black fruit notes. The wine freshens up beautifully with time in the glass as the aromatics become a bit more expressive. Voerzios 2008 La Serra is a huge and hugely promising wine. The firm tannins argue for at least a few more years in bottle. A hint of rose petal lingers on the intense finish. Anticipated maturity: 2018-2028. These wines from Roberto and Davide Voerzio represent a significant turning point stylistically. This is the first year in which most of the Baroli were aged partly in cask and partly in barrel, the same approach the estate used for its early wines, up to and including the 1993 vintage. The 2008s spent their first year in equal parts cask and barrique, and a second year in French oak barrels, just 20% new, a major change over the recent past. The exceptions are the Baroli Voerzio bottled only in magnums (Sarmassa and Vecchie Viti dei Capalot e delle Brunate), which were aged exclusively in French oak because of the tiny quantities of those wines. Roberto Voerzio describes 2008 as a year that was cold from start to finish. The wines are huge, tannic and likely to require quite a bit of patience. With time, though, the pedigree of the great Barolo vineyards simply cant be denied. The best of Voerzios 2008s are pure magic. A Leonardo Lo Cascio Selection, Winebow, Montvale, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620