Giacomo Fenocchio Barolo Bussia 2019

Claudio is effectively a master whose specialty is to craft Barolos with unbelievable pedigree…his hands-off approach in the cellar guarantees that each terroir comes across. Standing on the terrace of his house sitting on top of the hill overlooking his Bussia Sottana vineyards, he demonstrates just how small the entire Barolo growing area truly is: two hills over to the left of his Bussia vineyard is Cannubi, while on the right is Villero, the next hill over.

The fruit comes from Monforte d'Alba's Bussia cru. It grows on 35-year-old vines sitting at 300m above sea level on Helvetian clay, calcareous sediment and iron rich soil. It's hand-harvested mid-October, naturally fermented in stainless steel for 40 days, then matured in stainless steel for 6 months and in large Slavonian oak for 30 months. The wine spends 12 months in bottle before release.

Bright ruby colour of good depth, garnet tints. The bouquet suggests more savoury stuff than fruity, the discrete berry and a black rose scents a little masked by dried blood, rusty nail, dried herb and liquorice aromas. The palate is also complex and savoury, the subtle fruit sweetness balanced by sapid elements and ferrous minerality, the tannins authoritative and mouth-coating, the whole building to an intense and long finish A wine of excellent depth and presence.