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Word on the Grapevine 🍇
@wordonthegrapevine

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Recent releases from @piero_busso have been truly striking, the multidimensional 2019 Barbaresco Mondino enjoyed at @cicciocentrostorico with @tomjhmyers and @bertblaize is no exception. The wine leaps from the glass with aromas of cool, ripe red berries and kirsch, Christmas spices, herbs, and blood orange. The palate is medium to full-bodied, velvety and sapid with ripe, fine-grained tannins, and mouthwatering acid. The finish is long, moreish and engulfing. A real showcase of Busso’s aptitude for making fine, artisanal wine! The Mondino vineyard is found within the Balluri MGA adjacent to Starderi and running parallel with its two better-known neighbours, Albesani and Gallina—although some talented producers are now popularising Starderi. Pierguido’s Mondino comes from the Bricco Mondino lieu-dit in the upper section of Balluri from which the whole MGA’s ridge descends. The vines are 40-50 years old, at 240m asl and southwest exposed. Despite fierce, persistent drought in 2022 and ‘23, on my most recent visit, Pier’s vineyards were full of greenery; vines are old and pruned considerately; cover crop is spontaneous and seeded (mostly legumes for nitrogen fixing); the grass is trimmed or flattened depending on the vintage, there are no synthetic herbicides or pesticides; apical shoots are left to grow then braided once too unruly; and there is rarely ever any thinning. All this truly shows in the finished wines (you can’t polish a turd after all). #barbaresco #nebbiolo #pierbusso