Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2007 Barolo La Serra emerges from the glass with a bouquet redolent of perfumed red berries, flowers and mint, all quite typical of this site. In 2007 La Serra shows a touch more volume and depth than is usually the case, which helps to balance the hard, firm tannins that are often found in this wine. This is a beautifully proportioned, harmonious Barolo from Marcarini. It is already so open and expressive, it is hard for me to envision a long life, but most of the bottles will have been long consumed before that is likely to be an issue. The fruit was harvested on October 1 and 2. The wine saw 15 days of fermentation, followed by another 39 days of contact with the skins. The wine then spent two years in large, neutral casks prior to being racked into steel to rest before being bottled. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2019.
These are some of the finest Baroli I have ever tasted from Marcarini and proprietor Manuel Marchetti. The warmth of the vintage has given the wines an extra level of generosity in the fruit that acts as a wonderful counterpoint to the firm tannins that are generally present in this estate's young Baroli.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.