2005 Barolo Bussia Cascina Dardi

Alessandro Fantino continues to impress for the superb, pedigreed wines he turns out of his tiny, garage-like winery in the old town center of Monforte. Fantino honed his craft over the 18 years he worked with Bartolo Mascarello, and his wines share some aesthetics with those wines, although Fantino's vineyards are in Bussia rather than Barolo and La Morra which naturally lends his wines the more balsamic, spiced profile that is typical of that site. As always, there are two versions of each of the Barolos. The Barolos brought in to the US by importer Robert Chadderdon are aged in cask and decidedly more traditional in style than those destined for other markets, which see French oak. The differences between the wines are most acute in less important vintages, while in top years, the differences are more about style than pure quality.