2012 Barolo Bussia Riserva

Extremely floral and high-toned, with lightly dried fruit to the ripe-strawberry and toffee aromas, following through to a medium body with firm, fine tannins and berry, chocolate and light hazelnut undertones. It’s long and linear. Drink or hold.

Made only in the best vintages, the Parusso 2012 Barolo Riserva Bussia Oro was tasted from magnum. Exactly 1,160 bottles and only 108 magnums were released. This is a sunny and darkly concentrated Barolo that reflects the happy exuberance of the warm vintage. The fruit is quite rich, but it spans a large spectrum, with ripe plum on the one hand and tart cherry fruit on the other. There are additional notes of forest bramble, crushed flowers, tar, smoke and campfire ash. Compared to past vintages, this 2012 Riserva stands apart because of the more immediate accessibility of the tannins and the mouthfeel. This is all relative when we consider the wines of Parusso that always favor big structure and exceptionally long drinking windows.

The 2012 Barolo Bussia Riserva Oro is a powerful, dense wine. At nearly ten years of age, the 2012 is shockingly closed in on itself. A huge core of fruit gradually opens with a bit of coaxing, but the 2012 remains quite reticent. Spice, leather, cedar and tobacco meld into a core of red/purplish fruit in a potent Barolo that still needs time to be at its best and most expressive.