A total one-off wine and one of the most special Barolo's you can find. Marco Parusso only makes this in sensational years and 1999 was one such year (as was '98 in fact). As for all Barolo Riserva's they must spend a minimum of 4 years in barrel before release and this one is made from the best hand selected bunches of the best fruit in the legendary Rocche vineyard - Riserva Oro means 'Gold Reserve'. On the nose the wine shows a perfect Barolo character - perfumed rose petals, a tarry, truffely earthiness and deep wild dark berries. The dark berries are carried in layers onto a palate that can only be described as wildly complex and totally homegenous at the same time. The elegance, balance, poise and finish of this wine are all world-class. We tasted this in April 2010 and it was drinking very well indeed.

Cantina Parusso is located between the villages of Castiglione Falletto and Monforte d’Alba, in the hamlet of “Bussia”, on a hill called Bricco Rovella: 20 hectares of vineyards nestle in Località Bussia, Ornati, Mosconi, Le Coste, Mariondino and Villero.

The love for the vineyard dates back four generations and the one single aim of Parusso Family is to produce great wines prized for delicacy and elegance. The pursuit of a unique and premium character is the result of caring devotion to work in the various vineyards. A further expression of this philosophy is based on the diversity of the viticulture, where art and science meet to produce wines of great character in perfect harmony with the terroir. The Barolo Bussia, Barolo Mariondino, Barolo, as well as Barbera d’Alba Superiore and Bricco Rovella Bianco are vintage wines, made from a careful selection of the oldest vines. Barbera d’Alba Ornati, Dolcetto d’Alba Piani Noce, Nebbiolo Langhe and Langhe Bianco are wines characterised by a more everyday style in which the fragrance and freshness of fruit exalt their personality.

A beautiful landscape extends from the Parusso winery where the eye is drawn out to the wide reaching amphitheatre of vineyard patches, segmented and changing, season after season. Gentle slopes fall side by side with steeper hills, where the manual work cannot be replaced by modern machinery. Behind the vineyard rows one feels the dedicated hand of the vineyard workers. Vineyards that must be pruned by hand and cared for on foot, lends the wine the flavour of artisan devotion. Parusso’s vineyards are located in the middle of the Barolo zone, in the south-west of the Piedmont region. The vineyards for the Barolo production are located mostly in Monforte d’Alba in the followed cru: Bussia, Le Coste, Mosconi; the Dolcetto and Barbera are in the Ornati area, while the cru Mariondino is in Castiglione Falletto.

The Parusso winery focuses its attention on the noble indigenous Langhe grape varieties: Nebbiolo, Barbera and Dolcetto which give the best expression of the terroir. The territory of Langhe is characterized by a myriad of soil types: some sites are chalky, others sandy, others have layers of clayey-sandy marl, which give to each wine its particular and unique expression.

            
Here's where the winery is                              Marco himself