Winemaker Notes
With an intense flavor, with gentle and enveloping tannins, the elegance of the Bussia does not give up body and structure.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Barolo Bussia spreads out nice layers of dark fruit, with black cherry, plum and blackberry on a broad-shouldered wine. There is significant texture here with sweet, chewy tannins. This is a succulent Barolo, aged in neutral barrique. You could cellar it and see where it goes over the next few years, or open it in a few years with a medium rare steak. The Bussia cru shows density and structure.
-
Wine Enthusiast
The most recent addition to the firm's lineup single-vineyard Barolos, this opens with aromas of ripe red berries and purple flowers with a balsamic note of eucalyptus. Firmly structured and enveloping, the full-bodied palate delivers raspberry compote, licorice, tobacco and iron alongside a backbone of tightly knit, fine-grained tannins. Drink 2023–2035.
-
James Suckling
Extremely perfumed with aromas of roses and berries. Hints of cedar and dried flowers. Medium body, tight and concentrated center palate with a vivid and lively finish. Silky texture. Drink now or hold.
-
Wine Spectator
Aromas and flavors of medicinal herbs and cherry mingle in this fluid red. Assertive tannins line the finish, yet they are more refined and pointed than rustic. Licorice, mint and tobacco notes complete the profile. Best from 2022 through 2038.
-
Decanter
Einaudi's Cannubi is superb in this vintage, but their Bussia bottling from Monforte is also first-rate. There's a forthright cherry and berry nose here that's spicy, ripe and fleshy. It's plump, voluptuous and assertive, with powerful tannins and a good deal of thrust and drive. It doesn't lack elegance and the balance is excellent, giving a long, vibrant finish.
-
Wine & Spirits
This wine’s kirsch-like flavors take on notes of dark chocolate, cola and tobacco with exposure to air, the leathery tannins reining in the richness.
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.