(bottled during the third summer, like Voerzio's other Barolos, but held back for seven years in bottle prior to release), Good deep red, bright for a ten-year-old wine. Aromas of cherry liqueur, licorice, mellow nutty oak, menthol and exotic spices; clearly from a hot year but not cooked. Very smooth in the mouth, with superripe flavors of cherry liqueur, plum and prune. For all its plushness, good underlying energy gives it buns of steel. But today the wine's huge, drying tannins are tough going. This is already a notorious wine, as Voerzio chose this furnace-like vintage for the debut of this new riserva, which comes partly from young estate vines and partly from rented vines that the Voerzios farm. It's an essence of Barolo but today the wine's tannins are preventing it from really coming alive. I'd like to check back in on this in five or six years. -- Stephen Tanzer