Albesani Vigna Borgese

Albesani is one of the most reputed crus of Neive - it also contains the Santo Stefano vineyard that gives Bruno Giacosa his famous bottling. Vigna Borgese is Piero Busso's named parcel within Albesani, surrounding the family home and cellar in Neive. 1.20 estate-owned hectares of 100% Nebbiolo, Guyot-trained, south-westerly exposure at 210-240 metres, vines planted between thirty and seventy years ago. The soils are the classic Albesani template: calcareous clay-silt on Tortonian-era Sant'Agata Fossil Marl with elements of Diano Sandstone and the Lequio Formation.

Hand-harvested, indigenous-yeast fermentation in stainless steel, long maceration on skins in the traditional Busso style (around forty-five days per importer reports). Aged in large Slavonian oak botti (25 hectolitres) for roughly two years, then six to twelve months bottle rest before release. No barrique. 14.5% ABV. 3,009 bottles produced for the 2021 (per the label).

2021 was a long, balanced Barbaresco growing season - warm without sustained heat spikes, with cool late-summer nights preserving tension. Harvest ran from the very end of September into mid-October. Galloni framed the vintage as finessed and elegant - open aromatics, pliant fruit, ripe tannins - not the most concentrated year but among the most elegant of the early 2020s.