Winemaker Notes
Intense garnet red in color. The nose, initially austere, recalls complex floral and red fruit notes, licorice, spice and tobacco. The palate is fine with sensations of ripe red fruits. The taut and compact tannins makes the wine very classic, with vibrant and vertical acidity. Extremely elegant and refined.
Pairs beautifully with fresh pasta with meat sauce or truffle, roasted or braised red meats and long-aged cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Complex, slightly waxy nose with ripe red berries, hazelnuts, chocolate and hints of sweet spices. Medium- to full-bodied, very polished and smooth, with a delicate mouthfeel. It’s dense and velvety with good balance and length. Better after 2028.
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Wine Spectator
Cherry and strawberry fruit mingles with eucalyptus, sage, earth and iron flavors in this savory red. Firm and tense, with fine balance. The lingering finish echoes the fruit. Best from 2027 through 2043.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pecchenino is an estate in Piedmont specialized in the Dolcetto grape, but it has made big inroads with Nebbiolo, especially in the Barolo appellation. The 2020 Barolo Bussia reveals a near-term personality in this hot vintage with ripe fruit flavors of sweet cherry and dried raspberry. The ripeness takes away from the subtle nuances of the grape, and this wine lacks the dimension and detailing of a cooler year.
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.