2010 Roberto Voerzio Barolo Sarmassa

The 2010 Barolo Sarmassa (tasted in a magnum) opens to soft, toasted notes of exotic spice, clove and black pepper. There’s a great level of dimension and fruit-driven softness at the heart of this delicious Barolo. Davide and Roberto cut away up to two thirds of each cluster in the vineyard to ensure evenness in ripening. All barrique Drink: 2017-2034. Roberto Voerzio started buying prized vineyard parcels in 1982 and has since amassed one of the most important portfolios of single-vineyards (15 parcels over totaling 12 hectares) in La Morra (with Sarmassa and a piece of Cerequio in the neighboring township of Barolo). He follows a unique winemaking philosophy that is somewhere on the spectrum between traditionalists and modernist, but Roberto himself brushes off these broad stroke categories with a shrug and a smile. “In the years between 2003 and 2007, my approach to oak changed over and over. I went from larger containers to smaller ones and back again to larger,” he says: “Ultimately no one really noticed. What is noticeable however is his non-interventionist’s approach. He uses ambient years without sulfites for the fermentations followed by spontaneous malolactic fermentations and does not filter. He also chooses different bottle formats to represent each wine (with a generous array of large format bottles) and sells them in meticulously numbered lots. Fossati was latest acquisition with 20 and 30 years vines. Importer: Winebow, www.winebow.com

Seamless and gracious on the palate, the 2010 Barolo Sarmassa impresses for its silkiness and pure elegance. Freshly cut flowers, sweet red berries, mint and cinnamon are some of the many notes that emerge from the glass. The 2010 is finessed, creamy and exceptionally polished from start to finish. The 2010 is one of the two Voerzio Barolos still aged exclusively in French oak (the other is the Torriglione) because of its small production. Both wines are also only bottled in magnums.

The 2010 Barolo Sarmassa (tasted in a magnum) opens to soft, toasted notes of exotic spice, clove and black pepper. There’s a great level of dimension and fruit-driven softness at the heart of this delicious Barolo. Davide and Roberto cut away up to two thirds of each cluster in the vineyard to ensure evenness in ripening. All barrique Drink: 2017-2034. Jun 2014, www.robertparker.com