TN: 1997 Roberto Voerzio Langhe Chardonnay fossati roscaleto

WINE TALK
#1
  • 1997 Roberto Voerzio Langhe Chardonnay fossati roscaleto - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Langhe DOC (6/18/2016)
    This might be one of the rarest Italian whites around…vines ripped out in 99? and replaced with more Nebb! 10 or so years ago, a retailer was basically giving these away…I ended up buying all they had left…9 or so bottles. I will have 3 left after this one. It is STILL going strong! Golden yellow metallic with slight green shimmer…nose of lemons, marzipan, minerals, pie crust…TONS of mineralogy in this wine…chalky and powdery…but the freshness of the citrus lemons and tangerine really lift it…almost making it spicy like tannins! There is cream and aged nuances as well…little toffee, marzipan, tropical fruit marmalade…blossom florals, little exotic white honey butter, bread dough with the minerals. Again…this wine is a FASCINATION to me! No signs of any decline…really tasty and different than the Chardonnay I’m use to drinking. Hell…I might even have the only bottles left in existence?!? Fun stuff! (95 pts.)

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#2

I guess no Voerzio fans here…too bad…I think I’ll go over to Sucklings site to get more action… [whistle.gif]


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#3

Actually, when I first saw this post, I thought about replying to the effect that it’s one of the precious few tasting notes which I see on this board where I’m actually just a tad jealous of the taster.

I can’t remember the last time that happened.

#4

No need to be jealous…I’m just starving for info on this wine!

#5

I confess, I thought I had a pretty good handle on what Voerzio had gotten up to over the years, but I had no idea this wine existed. Looks like it’s held up well. If you had to make a guess about the character of its élevage, what would it be?

#6

A very cool wine…and for me I can’t imagine why he ripped up the Chardonnay. While I’ll admit that it’s not always what I want to drink…I do love the idea of getting some variety in the cellar and this sounds so unique that I can’t imagine wanting to replace those vines with more Nebbiolo.

#7

Cool bottling!

Wonder if the heat in 97 helped the Chard…

97 was such an odd year in the North. First, folks thought it was way too hot to make anything decent; then Suckling (via Wine Spect) gives the vintage 100 points…clearly an error; and then Parker basically loves all the hot messes that came out of that vintage and gives huge scores…also an error but not a shocker! I think he later retracted his raves about 97, or maybe he just dropped the vintage score without admitting the huge goof.

In any event, one thing that Suckling did get right is that Voerzio among a few others (e.g., Gaja and Giacosa) made really good wines in 97, maybe even great wines. He seems to do better in warmer vintages than cooler ones for some reason; for example his 96s disappoint.

#8

Got a nice response from a member of the Vinous board with info right from Roberto’s mouth…

"Hello Brian,

Roberto Voerzio produced this Chardonnay from the Vintage 1991 until 1999.
Today these 2 Vineyards in La Morra are planted with Nebbiolo for the Langhe Nebbiolo.
The annual Production of the Chardonnay was about 5.000 Bottles.
The Wine made the malolactic Fermentation in french Oak, and after the Wine spent 7-8 Month in new french Barrique with a very, very little Toasting,

The Informations I got this Morning directly from R.V. by Phone.

enjoy your other Bottles…"

Surprised to see so many vintages produced…as there are only 6 bottle logged in of the 97 on CT only…and one place in HK selling the 99? I guess most bottles drunk at release…before CT came about?