Winemaker Notes
Mellow and elegant bouquet with scents of berries and natural balsamic notes, Mediterranean woodlands and dried rose reminiscent of goudron with ageing. Well-balanced on the palate with elegant and assertive tannic texture, long and complex finish.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is an instant classic, and that may be because of the smart decision to harvest later than usual. The 2013 Barolo Riserva Bussia Vigna Mondoca is elegant and profound with lots of beauty at every stage of its depths. The Vigna Mondoca is located more or less in the middle of the expansive Bussia cru, which has very thin and light soils that ultimately aid in the quick ripening of the fruit. Historically, this has resulted in super fruit intensity and delicious black fruit flavors. In this edition, we also get more tilled earth and stunning mineral tones. This is a beautiful Barolo Riserva.
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Wine Spectator
Sappy cherry, plum and licorice flavors are the highlights in this powerful red, accented by medicinal herb, iron and tobacco notes. The solid backbone of tannins offers support, offset by ripe, sweet fruit. Best from 2023 through 2045.
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James Suckling
Burnt-orange, plum and berry character on the nose. Full-bodied with chewy tannins and juicy fruit on the finish. Very tannic and woody, but impressive nevertheless. Try in 2022.
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.