The 1999 Vino Nobile Riserva Bussona, named after the Bussona vineyard, a steep slope just below the Renaissance palaces of the city and the source of some of the best grapes of the zone, is stern stuff. A blackish garnet, its warm and enveloping aromas are redolent of roasted fruit, caramel, coffee, vanilla, and raspberry syrup. Full, caressing, and sensual in flavor, meaty and silky at the same time, it combines poise and elegance with strength and concentration. Drink: 2005-2012.
This wine shows impeccable winemaking from Nicolo D’Afflitto, a Florentine marquis and, not incidentally, a graduate of the Institut Oenologique of the University of Bordeaux. I have occasionally had some mild words of rebuke for what I considered excessive quality variation from year to year in these wines, observations which Caterina Dei undoubtedly considered nit-picking. In any case, this is all part of the past. The wines have gone from strength to strength since the mid-1990’s and this is a very strong group.
A Marc de Grazia Selection, various American importers, including Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300