The wines produced by Marco Buvoli, in Gambugliano, about 10 kilometers northwest of Vicenza, in the Castellari Mountains, between the Lessini and the Berici, have been for about fifteen years one of the most prestigious expressions of Italian sparkling 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 hidden for a long time, in the second half of the 90s began to take shape, thanks to the management of a hectare of land of Conegliano wine institute, cultivated with Pinot Noir, a grape variety 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.
Despite Marco is indissolubly linked to the Pinot Noir grape variety, he sometimes likes to test himself with other varieties as in the case of this TPS (Temporary Pleasure of the Spirit) obtained from 100% Syrah grapes. These grapes are harvested in a slight over-ripening that, due to a complex and unusual twist of nature, are able to maintain a high acidity, the backbone necessary to ensure verticality to the wine. After a careful harvest in a box, the grapes are vinified in a 10hl wooden vat, without temperature control, for 20% in whole clusters, with a period of fermentation and maceration of about two weeks. The obtained wine ages for two years in barriques, where it undergoes spontaneous malolactic fermentation, and then is bottled without filtration or clarification, and then passes another year of aging in glass before marketing.
The warm 2017 vintage shows a very concentrated ruby red color, almost impenetrable, with an olfactory range that opens on notes of cooked plum, black currant, wild blackberry and shellac, followed by pot pourri, humus, Kentucky tobacco, and dark leather, with final empyrean and carpentry echoes. The palate is astonishing because of the classic softness put in the background by an exceptional freshness, almost unnatural for a Syrah, accompanied by very thin tannins, a pronounced spicy component (black pepper) and a sapid flavor; all enriched by the return of the dark red fruit and the more austere spices that accompany the sip to a closure of excellent length.
Rating: 90/100
