BUSSIA
VIGNA MONDOCA
Township of Monforte d’Alba – 1.1 ha – Within the Menzione Geografica “Bussia”»
The Mondoca vineyard, our own property, is located in Monforte d’Alba within the menzione geografica “Bussia” not far from the village of Dardi. Its soil is Miocene-Serravallian and has yellow, sandy swaths of soil that are more or less compact, and white Diano sandstone (compact sands solidified with natural “cements” like calcium carbonate from marine waters). At the highest point of the vineyard, its “backbone,” the soil is white, dusty, and poor in nutrients. In the summer it is prone to drought due to poor organic matter in the soil;
it looks almost like the arid surface of the moon, its whiteness reflecting the sun. When the temperatures rise, the vines often undergo stress due to lack of water, and it seems that only Nebbiolo has the strength to grow here. Sometimes we fertilize with exclusively organic matter or with mature manure from organic-fed animals in order to help the vines retain more water. Mondoca, “sorì of the afternoon” (in Piemontese, sorì means “sunny vineyards”), has south and southwest exposure and experiences the highest temperatures of all the vineyards in the Barolo area.
