Piero Busso Barberesco Gallina 2021
- Region
- Italy » Piedmont » Barbaresco DOCG
- Type
- red still, dry
- Producer
- Vintage
- 2021
- Grapes
- Nebbiolo
- Alcohol
- 14.5
- Volume
- 750 mL
- Cellar
- not available
- Find at
This renowned 1.3-hectare site at 220-240 meters features Sant'Agata marls unusually rich in clay for Neive. The 40+ year old vines face southwest toward the Tanaro River in a notably windy microclimate. Fermentation occurs in wooden vats (1,000-2,500 litres) with 40-45 days submerged cap maceration, ageing two years in Slavonian oak. Interestingly, the 2019 vintage required 26 months of ageing due to exceptional concentration.
Ratings
Beautiful, but Christ, this is loaded like a weapon. Wound tight as a spring, all that Gallina power coiled up and waiting. Sage and wild cherry wrestling with dried roses, everything vibrating with energy. The tannins are still green and granular - you can actually feel the individual grains on your palate, like the wine's been pixelated. Screaming acidity cuts through everything. This is Nebbiolo on steroids, flexing so hard it forgot how to relax. Needs years to unwind, but when it does? Nuclear? Who knows, I am not a forture teller. Right now it's all potential energy and violence. Impressive as hell, just not particularly interested in being friends yet.
About Producer
The Piero Busso story begins with heartbreak. In 1948, Guido Busso hand-planted his first Nebbiolo vines in the Albesani cru of Neive, only to die from tetanus at age 32 before seeing his first harvest. His widow, Ada, maintained the vineyard for three decades, selling most fruit to neighbours while keeping the dream alive. When his son, Piero, abandoned his veterinary studies to return home in 1979, driven by an irresistible yearning for the Langhe, he bottled the estate's first commercial Barbaresco in 1982. Today, under third-generation leadership since 2010, the 10-hectare estate has transformed from local producer to what critics call "among the absolute finest Barbaresco has to offer," with holdings across four prestigious crus and vines ranging from 25 to 80 years old.
Pierguido Busso, who took over daily operations in 2010, follows a philosophy of radical terroir transparency. All Barbaresco crus receive identical vinification - same 40-45 day macerations with submerged cap, same indigenous yeast fermentation, same 2-3 years in 25-hectoliter Slavonian oak casks - deliberately eliminating winemaking variables to highlight each vineyard's unique character. The estate has been certified organic since 2019, though they've avoided synthetic herbicides since the 1970s. Harvest involves no more than eight experienced pickers using 15-18 kilogram baskets, with the same team returning for 10-15 years. Pierguido describes their approach as "80% viticulture, 20% cellar work," emphasising minimal intervention to preserve site expression.
Piero Busso represents a distinctive model for Barbaresco's evolution - maintaining traditional long macerations and large oak ageing while embracing organic certification and scientific precision. The estate's 50,000 annual bottle production across four crus allows unprecedented terroir comparison through identical winemaking, while old-vine selections from plantings dating to 1948 connect directly to the founder's original vision. Under Pierguido's "fastidious and exacting" management, sleepless nights over even minor cellar renovations reflect an obsession with preserving ambient yeasts and terroir integrity. This combination of historical continuity, technical rigour, and minimal intervention has elevated a family tragedy's legacy into what many consider Barbaresco's most exciting contemporary producer - proof that in wine, as in life, the most profound expressions often emerge from the deepest roots.
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