Roberto Voerzio Barolo La Serra 1989

13.5% Imported by Bianco Rosso Imports, WA

We've already drank our 7 1990 barolos (Cerequio, La Serra and Brunate) from this winery in years past and so now it is on to the 2 remaining 1989's. This seems like the best Voerzio I've had so far. I wasn't expecting that as La Serra seems to usually be the underperformer. La Serra means greenhouse in Italian as this vineyard is a warm site. La Serra is in the La Morra district. Marcarini also makes a La Serra.

This is a transitional period for Voerzio before he went all-out modern. This is not a traditionally made barolo nor is it full of oak either.

Bought on release from my local grocery store, Ballard Market for $29. Using Winesearcher I see that the Brunate from this same vintage is selling for $414!

"Intense nose. Very cool. Extra concentration. Chalk. Very poignant. Intense menthol nose. Tannic/intense. Concentrated. Very intense. Poignant nose. Very cool menthol. Nose - so deep. Tobacco, spicy, savory. Drying. Very nice wine. Caramel. Caramel. Wow. Smooth. Tannic. Strong. Quite the nose and palate."

You get the idea, no doubt!

This is a great time to drink this wine. Not sure how long this will last. Not fading now. Uncorked for one hour and decanted for two. Didn't really improve in the glass. Not extremely typical. I'm not sure I would have recognized it as Barolo. Touches on both masculine and feminine styles. A internationally styled wine that is still clearly Italian without obvious oak. Extremely nice wine. No disappointment here.

Served with an elk roast. After waiting almost 30 minutes for the lower over to preheat, my wife informed me it was broken and then found out that the roast wouldn't fit into the upper over! Very quickly turned this into a braise instead!


Thanks
Fraser


Edited by fraser (02-20-2017 11:23:37)