Winemaker Notes
Ruby red, with deep garnet tones. Floral and aromatic on the nose with notes of red fruit, rose petals and earth, followed by hints of spice and mint. Velvety tannins are elegant yet structuring, providing a full-bodied wine that pairs well with roasted meats and rich cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
The nose shows sour cherries, balsamic, earth and tile. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with precise, focused tannins that complement more than obstruct. The fruit is pleasant and juicy. Better from 2026.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Parusso 2021 Barolo Bussia is a little more immediate compared to the other wines in this portfolio, but you do get that abrupt stemmy quality that is characteristic of the house style. Dark fruit is padded by tea leaf and tobacco, and there is a hint of bitterness that comes with that more astringent flavor profile. it should soften with time. The wine offers plenty of complexity with rose, crushed flower and rusty mineral. Parusso's wines are always a world apart.
Rating: 95+ -
Vinous
The 2021 Barolo Bussia is a dense, potent wine. A blast of dark fruit makes a strong opening statement. New leather, licorice, mocha and dried flowers are all seamless in the glass. This virile young Barolo needs considerable time, as the tannins underneath all of that fruit are pretty insistent. Historically, the Parusso Barolos have aged quite well. I expect that to be the case here.
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Wine Spectator
A balsamic style, this red sports eucalyptus, menthol, tobacco and earth flavors. Its strawberry and cherry fruit is buried for now, so hang on to this for a few years if you can. Dusty tannins grip the finish. Best from 2029 through 2042.
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.