Poderi Aldo Conterno Barolo Bussia Cicala 1993 750ml

#36 in Top 100, 1997. Barolo of the vintage. Beautifully balanced, from one of the region’s finest vineyards, it sings with the purity of the Piedmont soil. Full-bodied but also elegant, with lots of ripe, sweet plum, jamlike currant and licorice flavors, and a superb minerally lead-pencil thread that gives extra dimension. As subtle as a top grand cru Burgundy, like Richebourg or perhaps Romanée St.-Vivant. Drink now through 2005. 567 cases made.

• Country: Italy
• Region: Piedmont
• Appellation: Barolo
• Size: 750ml
• Color: Red

Varietal

Nebbiolo

The Nebbiolo grape varietal is widely understood to be the fruit responsible for Italy’s finest aged wines. However, its popularity and reliability as a grape which gives out outstanding flavors and aromas has led it to be planted in many countries around the world, with much success. These purple grapes are distinguishable by the fact that they take on a milky dust as they begin to reach maturity, leading many to claim that this is the reason for their unusual name, which means ‘fog’ in Italian. Nebbiolo grapes produce wines which have a wide range of beautiful and fascinating flavors, the most common of which are rich, dark and complex, such as violet, truffle, tobacco and prunes. They are generally aged for many years to balance out their characteristics, as their natural tannin levels tend to be very high.