2009 Barolo Riserva 10 Anni Fossati Case Nere

This is a fine set of wines from Roberto Voerzio. Over the last decade or so, Voerzio has radically changed the style of his Barolos. It's been a gradual transition, but today's wines are far more translucent, medium in body and, for lack of a better word, classic than the wines of the past, the wines that made him famous. I enjoyed these wines, but frankly, I liked the wines more when they were opulent and exotic. Don't get me wrong, these current releases are outstanding, but the wines just aren't as unique as they used to be.

I have tasted Roberto and Davide Voerzio's 2009 Barolos a number of times over the last years, but it was my tasting last summer that was the most illuminating. I visited the estate in the summer, just a day or two before the wines were scheduled to be bottled. The wines were in tank, where they were naturally allowed to rise to the temperature most Barolo producers like for bottling, which is warmer than is ideal for tasting. Under these far less than perfect conditions, it would have been normal for wines as rich as these from a warm vintage like 2009 to be slightly flabby and unfocused. But they weren't. The wines were magnificent. From bottle, of course, they are even better. Roberto Voerzio likes warmer years and his wines often seem best suited to these types of vintages. Don't ask me why, because I don't know. I do know the 2009s here have always been magnificent. Beginning in 2008, the Voerzio Barolos are aged roughly half in cask and half in French oak barrels with the exception of the Sarmassa and Capalot, which are raised exclusively in barrique becasue of their tiny production levels.