Poderi Colla Barolo Bussia ‘Dardi Le Rose’ 2016

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

The Collas are one of the oldest and most established families in Piedmont, and yet their wines somehow remain under the radar. Over the last few vintages, quality has been especially strong. Readers who enjoy transparent, classically made Barolo and Barbaresco will want to check these wines out.

Antonio Galloni

Galloni is right, Pietro Colla has been on a roll of late and, with growing appreciation of more traditional style Barolo (and Barbaresco), they aren’t going to remain “under the radar” for long. In recent years, the big change at Colla was the acquisition of a new winery. They had well and truly outgrown their original winery, spread across several buildings at Bricco del Drago in San Rocco Seno d’Elvio. Just as plans were being drawn up to dig into the hillside and build a new cellar, a neighbouring winery, Cascina Bompè, became available. The Colla’s quickly snapped up the winery, which came with a few hectares of Barbera and is conveniently located next door to Locanda del Pilone, a one-star Michelin establishment. The newly acquired winery is a massive two-level concrete structure that could double as the Langhe Indoor Cricket Club, dug into the hilltop with an underground barrel room that is full of botti – you won’t find any barrique here.

BUSSIA BREAKDOWN

When the boundaries were proposed for the Langhe’s vineyard classification (Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive – MGA for short) and, this being Italy, politics got in the way and Bussia became a monster MGA of 340 hectares. In his publications, Alessandro Masnaghetti breaks down Bussia into no less than eleven different zones.

The Colla’s have a little over six hectares in the Bussia hamlet of Dardi which historically was part of Bussia Soprana. Pietro’s uncle, the late and legendary Beppe Colla, made the famous 1961 Prunotto Bussia from these vines (the first single vineyard wine in Barolo) and in doing so, pioneered the concept of cru Barolo (and Barbaresco). When the Colla’s sold Prunotto in the early 1990’s and began setting up their own family operation, it was always going to be a piece of Bussia that was at the top of their list. Masnaghetti describes the wines of Dardi as “classic Barolo, mineral at times, with somewhat rugged tannins”. Below, you can see the Colla’s vineyards in red, with the houses that make up the hamlet of Dardi on either side.

The vineyards are divided into seven parcels, vinified and aged separately. In the cantina, the grapes are on skins for 20 days and aged for two years in Slavonian botti. The best botti are selected for Dardi Le Rose and blended into a single bottling. mp 2016 Barolo Bussia ‘Dardi Le Rose’

More About Poderi Colla

Below you’ll find a few video snapshots of Poderi Colla. The podcast and video interviews with Beppe, who sadly passed away in Jan 2019, have some wonderful insights.

The 2016 Vintage

“The 2016 vintage was certainly one of the longest-lasting seasons of recent years. Signs of the vegetative cycle being so long first appeared at the beginning of the season when the mild temperatures and low rainfall in January and early February confirmed the trend that had already been seen during the first part of the winter. From the end of February throughout March, on the other hand, temperatures dropped and there was plenty of rain, providing the soil with good reserves of water, although less than what was recorded the previous year.

Spring began with a considerable amount of rain as well as cold night temperatures which actually helped avoid any significant disease related problem also because of the still primordial stage reached in the vegetative cycle.

Only after June 20th temperatures become more normal and summer settled in with maximum day temperatures above 85ºF. The good weather stayed through the summer, but never too hot and grapes showed a slow delay in the ripening process that was overcome only in September especially thanks to the beautiful second half of the month. Bright days and chilly nights helped a perfect evolution of the structure of the wines and the accumulation of phenolic substances.

Harvest happened in the first two weeks of October under beautiful weather. We can look forward to wines with excellent balance. Big bouquets and great structure, although in some cases lower alcohol contents will be recorded than in 2015. 2016 will be a vintage of great personality and definitely in for the long run in your cellars!”

Where in the World are Poderi Colla?

Colla’s Barolo comes from the Bussia Cru at the top end of Monforte d’Alba.

If you have a Barolo MGA 360º subscription check out the Bussia Cru & other Cru’s in exceptional detail.

This 3D flyover is Epic covering each of the communes you can see just how varied and extreme the aspect of each vineyard is and how in the space of a few metres just how dramatically the change.