Alberto Voerzio

The La Serra cru, like Castagni, also shows up very bright and yet the differences are pronounced. From four plots in La Serra, all harvested same day, and with the same élevage as his Castagni Barolo (French oak for 24 months, 25% new, followed by 8 months in stainless steel before bottling), the differences show a wonderful transparency of terroir. This wine is more confident and elegant, perhaps a touch more austere on nose, but the palate is loaded with nuance. Balsamic, cherry compote, violet, rose, strawberry, and a character-defining leather note, bound around these many pages. The French oak is beautifully integrated, easily spotted but spicy and pure and not excessive. As the wine decants, you find more and more power and depth arriving, an intensity that is more bombastic and hungry for prime rib. The fruit seems to get richer and heavier, even moreso than the Castagni. In its youth, you can certainly envision this wine in a decanter beside any cut at any Alberta steakhouse and everyone would be very pleased. With time in the cellar, the bombast will resolve back into the sagacious and thoughtful mystique we cherish and patiently await in our Barolo's. It's always a joy to find a Barolo that drinks exceedingly on both sides of that journey! (This wine is unfined & unfiltered and may therefore throw a natural deposit with age.)