The wines produced by Marco Buvoli, in Gambugliano, in a magnificent hilly enclave, 10 kilometres northwest of Vicenza, are, since about fifteen years, one of the most prestigious expressions of sparkling italian Pinot Noir. Marco, on the other hand, is the son of Nevio Buvoli, one of the first Italian sommelier, who trained him to recognize the difference between a mediocre wine, a simply good one and an excellent one. Despite this passion has remained isolated for a long time, in the second half of the 90s it began to take shape, thanks to the management of a hectare and a half of land planted by the wine institute of Conegliano with Pinot Noir, the vine that Marco had always preferred.
The first harvest dates back to 2001, when Marco was still divided between the vineyard and the commercial work in the automotive sector, thanks to which he had the opportunity to travel the world and, in his free time, to visit the most important wineries and farms, studying its characteristics and filling notebooks with notes. Gradually, also thanks to the achievement of economic independence with the work in the vineyard, Marco began to reduce the time devoted to his first employment, until he abandoned it permanently in 2015 to devote himself to his land that, in the Meanwhile, become 7 hectares, distributed in the hilly area between Vicenza and Padua.
The agronomic practices adopted were soon converted to the biological approach and, subsequently, biodynamic, with a deep respect for the natural ecosystem, combined with a manual, and maniacal, care of the vineyard. The vines are all French clones, personally chosen by Marco, cured with very strict pruning, which lead to very low yields, and manually harvested only when they reach full ripeness.
It is impossible to neglect, within the production of Marco, the pas dosé Cinque, a Metodo Classico made from Pinot Noir grapes that, after being harvested, spend the night to cool before the whole bunch pressing and cold decantation of 24 hours. The alcoholic fermentation starts by means of the pied de cuve at controlled temperature, while the malolactic fermentation is not sought at all costs, but not even hindered. The wine obtained, which makes up about 65% of the cuvée, rests in the barrique room, at a controlled temperature, until May of the following year when is assembled with a 25-30% of reserves of the previous 3 years, left to mature in exhausted barriques, and a 5-10% of cuvée perpétuelle, and then left to refine for five years. It is worth remembering that the starting cuvée is always the same for all Marco’s sparkling wines while changing the period of aging on the lees, whose years give their name to every single wine produced. All this to say that, being Marco’s hand more mature with the passing of time, and being the perpetual cuvée progressed and evolved, paradoxically the most recently wines show a character and a texture that the most prestigious cuvée had not yet had when, 10 years ago, they were made.
The litmus test of what has been said comes from this Cinque, disgorged in 2021, which has a golden color and a dense but chiseled perlage, with an olfactory fan that opens on notes of dried apricot, black cherry grenade, cranberry and wild strawberry, followed by Sherry Fino, lime rind, chestnut honey and croissants, with final echoes of pastry cream and carpentry. The palate is characterized by a delicious balance between soft and acidic parts, with the latter slowly taking over, accompanied by excellent flavor and the delicate bubbles massage; all enriched by the return of the red fruit and a hint of Sherry Fino that accompany the sip to a juicy closure.
Rating: 91/100
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