According to the available sources, it seems that the Parusso family began to deal with grapes and wines as early as 1901 when the pioneer Gaspare bought his first vineyard in the Mariondino area, in Castiglione Falletto. Since then this family has continued in its symbiotic path with the vine until 1971 when Armando Parusso, from his winery in Cascina Rovella (in Bussia), began to bottle his wine with his own label. The combination of Parusso/quality wine, however, began to spread especially with the work of Marco, the son of Armando, who since 1990 runs the winery “Parusso Armando di Parusso F.lli Società Agricola” assisted by his sister Tiziana.
In order to appreciate Marco’s hard work, both in the vineyard and in the cellar, it is necessary to try to understand the sensitive man, through and through sincere (and sometimes a bit tranchant) which hides behind the vigneron. Marco has dared (and continues to dare) to challenge the conventions and stereotypes that have accompanied Barolo wines for decades, starting from an Amletic doubt, that is if the taste and the aroma, averagely standardized, of those wines corresponded to what the Terroir, exploited in the right way, was able to express. In the light of this doubt Marco began to experiment every aspect of the winemaking phase, starting from the most suitable type of viticulture up to the study of the influence of wood, of various sizes and toasting, on his wines.
Clearly, it is difficult to enclose and synthesize the thought of this man, but you can identify with good security the pillars of his productive philosophy. In the vineyard there is a high density of planting and the spontaneous grassing of the soil, moreover the fertilization, the working and the pruning differ from one tiny vineyard to the other, to better meet the individual needs of each. In the cellar, after pruning and before pressing, the grapes stop to oxygenate for about 3-4 days in a dedicated room with temperature, ventilation and humidity controlled, ionized and added by air propolis that acts as natural antibacterial. This stop allows the grapes to regain their balance, lost after the traumatic cut of the cord that kept them attached to the mother-plant.
Among this winery Barolos a very particular place is occupied by the famous Blue Label, a wine produced exclusively in certain vintages (to date only 2002, 2005 and 2014) in which Marco does not consider the grapes of his most prestigious Cru (Bussia, Mariondino and Mosconi) up to their fame, and then assembles them together without mentioning them. The wine, characterized by a very advantageous quality/price ratio, comes from the manual harvest in small perforated baskets that are sent to the cellar, to be gently pressed, and left to macerate for a long time. The spontaneous fermentation takes place by means of indigenous yeasts, without sulfitation, with the control of time and temperature, and is followed by 18 months of maturation in barriques and tonneux. After racking without clarification or filtration, the wine still rests a few months in the bottle before marketing.
The 2014 vintage shows an impalpable and luminous ruby color, with slight orange streaks, and an olfactory range that opens on notes of peach peel, Ravenna cherry, dried rose and vanilla, followed by orange peel, carob, licorice and humus, with conclusive vinyl and blood/ferrous echoes. The palate, savory and fresh, is particularly striking for the rare elegance of the tannins, pure velvet, combined with a discreet softness; all enriched by the return of fresh fruit and the blood/ferrous trait that accompany the sip to a very long finish.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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