Year's Best Barbaresco Buy $44-39 Gorgeously Pretty PORA

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Saturday, January 28th, 2023

Dear Artisans,

Keeping it short so you can get back to the game! 😇

Our most-sold Barbaresco of all time is back and as gorgeous as ever.

Despite inflation, we were able to give you the same price two years ago.

👉 Pora is among Barbaresco's greatest vineyards

👉 Price of admission for most Pora Single-Crus = $75+

👉 In fact, we haven't seen this price for a Single-Cru in years

👉 2018 Barbaresco are extraordinarily perfumed, silky & drinkable now

👉 Drink now through 2038 —Wine Advocate

Background:

Small and off-the-radar, Musso has only six hectares of vineyards in the DOC of Barbaresco - but fortunately for them, these hectares lie entirely within the Crus of Rio Sordo and Pora. These are two of the most highly regarded of Barbaresco's single vineyards.

The Musso family has been bottling their own Barbarescos since the 1930s. According to Wine Enthusiast's Kerin O'Keefe, who wrote about this winery in her book on Barolo and Barbaresco, Musso is a traditional producer who uses only large Slavonian casks to age the wines. Now on the 3rd-5th generations (winemaker Valter, grandson of the founder Sebastiano Musso, together with his son Emanuele (who supervises marketing) and his own grandson Luca Accornero, who runs things in the vineyards), this small winery continues to punch well above their weight class.

We are loving and highly recommending this 'workhorse' Barbaresco to both drink now and cellar, at a price we haven't seen in years.

Cheers,

—James Tran

2018 Musso Barbaresco 'Pora' DOCG

17 / 20 Points - Jancis Robinson:

"Barbaresco. Tasted blind. Just mid ruby with orange tinges. Ripe, rich marasca cherry with a minty edge and a hint of cardamom pod. Perfumed, ripe palate with juicy acidity and finely chiselled tannins balancing the whole. Long, layered and seductive and ready now." -WS (7/12/21)

92 Points - Robert Parker:

"The 2018 Barbaresco Pora opens to a lean garnet appearance and aromas that are especially expressive and direct in this classic vintage. There is wild rose and crushed lilac, and you might also recognize some toasted hazelnut and tilled earth. All of these characteristics remain faithfully elegant and contained. They add to the graceful, almost understated personality of this release of about 12,000 bottles. Drink 2023-2038." - Monica Larner (Jun 2021)