2010 Bussola Amarone TB Vigneto Alto

2010 Bussola Amarone TB Vigneto Alto

2010 Bussola Amarone TB Vigneto Alto A dark display of musky black cherries, mocha, brown sugar, cinnamon and sweet violet florals wafts up effortlessly from the 2010 Amarone della Valpolicella Classico Vigneto Alto TB. There is a viscosity here that is more like molten chocolate than wine, as this contrasts savory, bitter and sweet, creamy yet full of energy, and it washes across the palate with ease. Its ripe red fruits and exotic spices are penetrating and persistent, yet zesty acids maintain vibrancy and leave you completely refreshed for another indulgent sip.

The word “wow” does not do this justice, as it goes down way too easy. This is a rock-star wine already, yet it has the potential to evolve for many years in the cellar. The Vigneto Alto is sourced from 80-year-old vines. The wine is matured for 36 months in new barriques, after which only the best 11 barrels are picked and blended together into a 25-hectoliter barrel, where it refines for another 40 months.

95 Falstaff: Clear, rich ruby. Opens with rich ripe fruit of pickled cherries and plum jam, in addition fine vanilla notes. On the palate lush and round, shows a lot of sweet texture, then pithy, vivid tannin that gives depth, in the final firm drive, the wood is very well integrated on the palate.

Tommaso Bussola

The story of the Tommaso Bussola winery began when Tommaso started working at the small estate of his uncle, Giuseppe Bussola. In the early years Tommaso followed in the footsteps of his uncle, making traditional wines in the classic style in Italy – which came to be labelled “BG” the initials of his uncle Giuseppe Bussola.  His first vinification was in 1983 and in each successive vintage he sought to constantly improve the quality of the wine.

Ten years later, in 1993, in order to keep upping their qualitative game, they completed the construction of their new wine cellar, where stylistically, you can see many throwbacks to Tommaso’s previous career as a stonemason. Along with the new cellar came the introduction of some new barriques which would be used for the new top crus of the new line of TB wines and the single vineyard Vigneto Alto. Soon after, in 1995, Tommaso’s wife, Daniela joined in the adventure, focusing on the office and export markets. Years later in 2006, Tommaso’s son, Paolo, started working full time at the winery and soon began to take over the work in the cellar and become the winemaker as well as also following the work in the vineyard. Tommaso’s younger son, Giuseppe, followed suit in 2008 though Giuseppe works alongside his mother Daniela following the commercial side of the business and exports. Tommaso helps with everything but at this point, his primary focus is on the vineyards.