Voerzio Martini, Barolo DOCG (Piedmont, Italy) 2016

 There’s no question that 2016 was an amazing growing season for this producer, whose wines I have never before selected for review, as even this straight Barolo normale is full of flavor and fun.  The color is very dark and concentrated, and that provides a truthful indication of what is to come when tasting: very rich and ripe aromas and flavors, with so much sweet primary fruit that the tannins and wood are just swamped from the mid-palate and through the finish.  The wine doesn’t really seem in tune with the rather fresh and restrained profile of many Barolo bottlings from 2016, and there’s just a bit of overt “chunkiness” to the wine, but it is undeniably delicious even if not all that refined.