2003 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Sarmassa

(for 1.5 liters) Good medium red. Explosive aromas of cherry, rose petal, tobacco and spicy oak; fresh for the year. Lush and dense, with a firm mineral spine and ripe acidity giving shape and grip to the red fruit flavors. This has real pulp! The long finish features rising red fruit flavors and nicely buffered, toothdusting tannins. These vines are next to Cerequio, and share that vineyard's exposition and soil content, but 90% of them are in the commune of Barolo. A very strong '03.

Voerzio's 2003 Barolo Sarmassa possesses knockout aromatics and superb delineation in its sweet roses, cocoa, spices, raspberries. this is not an especially complex Barolo in this vintage, but it does offer superb purity and gorgeous length that puts it in a class with few peers. The magnum format appears to be very beneficial in a vintage in which preserving freshness has been a major challenge. Only from magnums.

Voerzio’s 2003 Barolo Sarmassa possesses knockout aromatics and superb delineation in its sweet roses, cocoa, spices, raspberries. This is not an especially complex Barolo in this vintage, but it does offer superb purity and gorgeous length that puts it in a class with few peers. The magnum format appears to be very beneficial in a vintage in which preserving freshness has been a major challenge. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2018. Roberto Voerzio is one of the very few producers who has always been enthusiastic about his 2003s. His wines are beautiful even if they have shut down considerably since I last tasted them in tank a few months prior to their bottling. Voerzio’s passion for the vintage notwithstanding, 2003 presented an extremely challenging set of circumstances. Some of the wines never fully completed fermenting their sugars. Voerzio refused to use the additives that could have helped, saying that would have compromised the wines’ naturalness. In 2003 there is no Barolo La Serra or Barolo Rocche dell’Annunziata. Voerzio also decided not to bottle his Langhe Merlot. There will be a new Barolo Riserva made from his newest holdings in Fossati/Case Nere, of which Voerzio says “this will be my Monfortino.” Curiously, Voerzio is often lumped in with producers of the modernist school, yet the Piedmont wines he is most passionate about are those of Bruno Giacosa and Giacomo Conterno, both of whom are heavily represented in his own cellar. Importer: Winebow, Hohokus, NJ; tel. (201) 445-0620