Barolo Riserva, Costa di Bussia 2019
James Suckling 93
Mix any six bottles and you pay the Any 6+ price at checkout — no code needed.
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Why this wine
Bussia is one of Barolo's named crus, and every Costa di Bussia bottle comes from the eleven hectares around the cellar rather than bought-in fruit. Thirty-six months in large Slovenian casks gives it the old-school shape: savoury, structured and made to be opened with food.
At a glance
- Grape
- Nebbiolo
- Region
- Piedmont, Italy
- Alcohol
- 14.50%
- Body
- Full
- Acidity
- High
- Tannins
- High
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Exceptional Longevity (15-50+ Years)
- Pairs with
- Red Meat, Poultry & Pork, Cheese
How it tastes
Exotic spice, dried flowers and a herbal edge over deep, baked fruit, savoury rather than polished, in the traditional Barolo mould. Full-bodied at 14.5%, with a heavy concentration of sweet, smooth tannin coating the palate and high acidity carrying a long, savoury finish. Nebbiolo 100%.
The producer
The Sartirano family has owned and run Costa di Bussia since 1988, in the Bussia cru near the village of Monforte d'Alba, and the estate's fifteen hectares take in the vineyards of Campo dei Buoi and Campo del Gatto. Bussia's clay soils are rich in the minerals that give the wine its structure and complexity, and the slopes are steep enough that machinery is impractical, so the vines are tended by hand; the estate is farmed under SQNPI-certified integrated crop management, and every bottle comes from the eleven hectares immediately surrounding the cellar. Vinification ran in small fermentation tanks with delicate pumping over, drawing out flavour and tannin while oxygenating the wine, which then spent a minimum of thirty-six months in 5,000-litre Slovenian casks and a further period in bottle before release.
Food and drinking
Serve at 16-18C and decant an hour ahead. It wants braised beef cheek, roast guinea fowl, mushroom risotto or a well-aged Castelmagno. Drink now or keep it for fifteen years and more. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.