Alberto Voerzio

La Morra, Barolo, Piemonte

Alberto Voerzio farms a tiny slice of heaven in the famed Barolo village of La Morra. Since childhood his family always remarked on Alberto's immense passion for this land and its wines, and this in a family famously passionate about Nebbiolo. After Alberto graduated with a degree in Enology, he gathered experience in Burgundy and Bordeaux before returning to La Morra to work with his renowned cousin Roberto until, in 2006, neighbouring plots came available and Alberto was able to strike out on his own. 

Alberto is a vigneron. He manages every aspect of his wine, from the vineyard sites to the bottling line. His sites are entirely in La Morra, on slopes of southwest, south, and southeast aspect. These include 1.3 ha in the famed cru of La Serra* and 0.7 hectares in the cru Castagni. It’s a small property indeed but this is how Alberto can personally farm each of his vineyards year-round, managing every stage of the vine’s annual procession of tasks. He practices biodynamics (uncertified) and a gentle, hands on farming. And not unlike Roberto’s famous green harvest, Alberto also passes through his vineyards not once but twice before veraison, discarding grape clusters to force the vine to concentrate more of its evolutionary energy into a smaller and smaller set of fruit. In doing so, he limits his yields to a spartan 1 kg or less per plant (and only 500-700g per plant for his Castagni and La Serra cuvées!). 

When this quality of fruit meets Alberto’s incessant devotion in the cellar, the outcome is pure magic. His spontaneous fermentations with native yeast give dynamism but not at the loss of the control and hygiene offered by temperature controlled stainless steel. The wine is then racked to barriques (25% new for his Barolo’s) and here his tasteful selection of excellent French cooperage sings along with the wine. In summary: great terroir and not a corner cut, this is the simple yet painstaking recipe for a fine wine that endures. 

*Among the crus of La Morra, La Serra has a leading role. This is thanks to the brilliant south-eastern exposure of its slope. Perched at the top of the slope above the crus Casa Nero, Cerequio and Brunate and Boiolo. Thanks to their more compact and water retentive Totonian soils, the wines of La Morra are known for being the most aromatically perfumed, graceful, supple, floralmu, and seductive, and  the easiest to drink upon release as opposed to the more brooding, muscular, and earthy wines of Serralunga d'Alba and Monforte d'Alba (for this style, be sure to check out the Barolo's of our friend Enrico Rivetto). But make no mistake, La Morra's wines also develop beautifully in the cellar, the best vintages offering 15-25 years of improvement.