Cesare Bussolo Barbera d’Alba ‘Vigna Santa Lucia’ 2015

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Over the last few years we’ve seen a number of very talented individuals start their own ventures after working for benchmark estates for a number of years. No mean feat given the cost of vineyards in Barolo and Barbaresco. The generosity of those they work for has in part helped. Roberto Voerzio leasing a parcel of Fossati to Cesare is indeed a gift from the heart!

Check out the 7 video series below with Roberto and Cesare taking us through a season in the vineyards. It’s in Italian, you’ll get the idea of what’s going on though!

Vintage: 2015

Variety: 100% Barbera
Density: 8000 vines / hectare
Yield per plant: 1 kg
Exposure: west
Harvest: late September
Production: 5120 bottles, 200 magnums
Alcoholic fermentation: 27 days Steel
Malolactic fermentation: 80 days Steel
Ageing: 12 months in oak barrels (15% new-85% used)
Alcohol: 14,60
Total acidity: 6,40
Serving temperature: 14/15° C

Tasting note: open the bottle 2 hours before serving.

In the cellar, I decided to continue to marry the natural line.

Alcoholic fermentation with indigenous yeasts for 15-30 days, spontaneous malolactic fermentation in steel, the wine is natural and does not undergo any alteration. After 12 months of aging in oak barrels (15% new and 85% used) wine bottling expected in late August, steel without undergoing any filtration.

Cesare Bussolo is Roberto Voerzio’s long-time assistant winemaker and right-hand man. The 2014 Barolo Fossati is the first wine Bussolo has made under his own label, and it is terrific. Antonio Galloni, Vinous

Cesare Bussolo was born and lived in the heart of La Morra, one of the villages of the Barolo appellation. His childhood was marked by the culture of wine and vine. Graduated in 1998 from the Alba Wine School, he started working in the large estate of Bovio in La Morra. Since 2007, he has worked at the Voerzio estate, has been involved in both vineyards and winemaking, and has become a faithful and indispensable collaborator of Roberto Voerzio. In 2009, faithful to his roots, he bought an old vineyard of about 90 years old, in an area called Santa Lucia, very well adapted to the Barbera vineyard culture in the city of La Morra, for him considered the best terroir in the world. In 2010, the vineyard was uprooted and replanted with a very high density of about 8000 plants per hectare.

This has reduced the yield of grapes per plant to just over 1 kg. The vineyard is cultivated in organic agriculture, without the use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides to give the possibility to the soil to give their best. In the cellar, he works in a natural way. Harvested by hand at perfect maturity, super healthy, the grapes ferment for 15-30 days thanks to the only indigenous yeasts in stainless steel tanks. The wine then undergoes no alteration, also performs its malolactic fermentation in stainless steel tanks. It is then racked in oak barrels (20% maximum nine). After 12 months of aging, it is bottled at the end of August, without sticking or filtration. Enthusiastic, generous, Cesare is eager to offer (still in minute quantities ….) his second vintage of Barolo, from the vintage Fossati in the vintage 2015….

Where in the World are Cesare’s Vineyards?

The Santa Lucia vineyard is in the commune of La Morra.  Click on the map to enlarge it.