Alessandro Fantino Barolo Bussia Cascina Dardi 2015 750 ML

The 2015 Barolo Bussia Cascina Dardi is dark and brooding in the glass. Unlike the Laboro Disobedient, which is so open, the Cascina Dardi is a behemoth. Swaths of tannin give the Dardi a real feeling of power. Black cherry, spice, menthol graphite and scorched earth add to the wine's distinctive, virile feel.\n \n Producer Information\n Alessandro e Gian Natale Fantino (sometimes also known as A & G Fantino) is a family wine estate based in the Monforte d'Alba, prehaps best known for its Barolo wines made from the Nebbiolo grape variety. The estate was founded in the 1990s by brothers Alessandro and Gian Natale Fantino. The former had been the winemaker at high-profile Barolo producer Bartolo Mascarello until the late 1990s, when he joined his brother to run his family estate. Today, they source grapes from eight hectares (20 acres) of vineyard, located entirely within the Dardi section in the center of the Bussia cru. Accordingly, Fantino's Barbera d'Alba and Barolo wines are labeled Cascina Dardi, and previously Vigna dei Dardi. The older parcels were planted in 1946 and 1947. Grapes are harvested by hand and sorted at the winery, then fermented for 18-25 days in large oak casks using native yeasts. The Barolo wines and the Laboro Disobedient cuvée are aged in large Slavonian oak cuves. The Rosso dei Dardi – from younger Nebbiolo vines – and Barbera d'Alba wines are fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks. Fantino also produces a Barolo Chinato and a Nebbiolo passito.