Producer Profile
Musso
Piedmont, Italy

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Musso

Barbaresco, Piedmont, Italy

Enduringly elegant Italian wines with a true sense of place

Musso is a small family estate dating back to 1929 but rooted in the region as far back as the 17th century. Sebastiano Musso started with little more than a hectare. Their area under vine has since grown to 10 hectares with gradual and careful additions of only the best sites in and around Barbaresco. The emphasis on organic methods and minimal addition of sulphites results in wines that express the full potential of the sites and of the grapes.

Location: Piedmont, Italy

Working with us since: 2016

Total area under vine: circa 10 hectares

Viticultural standards: organic (non- certified)

Website: mussobarbaresco.it

Our pick of the best wine from this producer: Musso Langhe Nebbiolo ‘Baby Barolo’

Interesting fact: Nebbiolo is often more expressive and ready to drink earlier in Barbaresco than in Barolo. But the region’s other indigenous grapes are also worth discovering and can offer much better value.

Musso Wines

How Richard found them:
Exploring to find value and quality in Piedmont was tough, but when we met Musso, wow were we stunned! The expressiveness of the wines and the estate’s focus on organic methods and low sulphur addition made us certain that we didn’t have to look further.

Establishing a small winery at the break of the Great Depression certainly wasn’t an obvious decision to make. But Sebastiano Musso was determined and passionate about the potential of Barbaresco’s terroir. He started with little more than a hectare sitting in Cavanna and Ronchi, sites with ideal microclimate for balanced ripening and a balanced mix of clay and limestone soils. The resulting gorgeous wines were thus born, full of fresh acidity, minerality and elegant fruit. Sebastiano endured and battled through the trying times of World War II, never doubting the potential of his venture.

In the 1960s, his son Augusto joined the family business to make wines and carry on his father’s legacy. In 1966, the Barbaresco that Sebastiano had dedicated his whole life to, became a DOC wine, finally opening the gates of recognition and commercial success. Augusto’s youthful enthusiasm added even more to the winery as they expanded on the foundations built nearly 100 years earlier and bought a small plot in the hill of Pora and an entire farm in Rio Sordo. The winemaking facilities and vineyards have developed with their success and size but Musso remains a small, carefully managed operation, producing around only 75,000 bottles a year. Musso emphasizes and focuses on organic methods, making wines with minimal additions of sulphites. These are some of the finest wines of the Piedmont region, the hard work and persistence easily detected in every refined sip.