Vigna Santa Lucia Barbera d'Alba

It’s been a few years since my last experience with the 2019 “Vigna Santa Lucia” and I had a hankering soooo, I pulled the cork. I enjoyed this bottle over the course of several days. Looking back on my notes, I feel as though there’s been a shift in fruit profile.

I enjoyed this bottle over the course of four days. It was tightly wound the first two days and, to my palate, I thought it was best on Day 3 and 4. The fruit was dark and tart: Montmorency cherry and black plum, purple flowers and earth. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium- tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose, the finish is medium and the texture is soft. It started off as merely good Barbera d’Alba and it ended up becoming an emotional wine; bringing me back to the glass again and again. Drink now through 2034. 4840 bottles produced.

Always a joy. No formal notes at an event.

Popped and poured, decanted for 90 minutes and then enjoyed over the next several hours. The 2019 Cesar Bussolo Barbera d’Alba “Vigna Santa Lucia” pours a bright ruby color with a near opaque core. Medium+ viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is redolent of berry fruit: blackberries, blueberries, and brambles along with fresh basil, black licorice, sarsaparilla, dry earth, and some spices. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes on the nose with savory minerals in the long finish. Based on this experience and the fact that this hardly budged as the hours rolled by, it gives me the impression that this has a very long life ahead. Try again after 2025 and enjoy through 2035.

In the zone. So delicious, spicey and grapey.