The Poderi Aldo Conterno 2017 Barolo Bussia Colonnello shows good focus, structure and a sharper character that is often the distinguishing factor in this wine. The bouquet is redolent of dark fruit and plum, but it also shows a solid framing of iron ore and dark stony mineral. These give the wine greater lift and contoured edges. This is not the first time that Colonnello is my favorite wine in this lineup, and I suspect it won't be the last.

The Poderi Aldo Conterno 2016 Barolo Bussia Colonnello shows dark fruit intensity, dried cherry, spice, licorice and tilled earth. The wine delivers its aromas in a direct and immediate manner, with menthol and balsam herb fitting into oaky aromas of sweet spice. For whatever reason, I notice the oak more in Colonnello, but this will relax with time. The wine will be ready to drink after the 10-year mark. Approximately 6,000 bottles were made.

Of these four Barolos from Poderi Aldo Conterno, the 2015 Barolo Bussia Colonnello (with a mere 5,000 bottles made) shows the most focused precision. This wine offers a very fine and detailed bouquet that is distinguished by linear fruit, spice and mineral. Those aromas feel elongated and extended, both in terms of their volume and length. This impression is especially strong in a warm vintage like 2015, which brings intense and richly concentrated fruit to the table. This wine is extremely elegant and generous.

The 2014 Barolo Bussia Colonnello lags behind the other cru expressions at this early point in its drinking window. The bouquet offers less intensity, although the wine does ultimately build forward momentum and power in the mouth. Fruit aromas are well represented in the 2014 vintage, although the nose is still timid and closed at this point. This wine saw 29 months in oak, which is three months more than average, and the extended oak aging is directed at building that aromatic intensity. Anise seed and balsam herb rise to the top. Colonnello requires more oxygen and bottle aging.

The 2013 Barolo Bussia Colonnello is the most ethereal and delicate of the Bussia series of wines. Fruit is sourced from a portion of the Bussia vineyard that is located closer to the village of Barolo (one kilometer away) than it is the village of Monforte d'Alba (five kilometers away). The sandy soils found here make for softer and tamer tannins especially when compared to the other parts of Bussia. The bouquet opens to aromas of blue flowers, spice, wild berry, licorice and white truffle. This is a softly nuanced and finessed Barolo made with fruit from 45-year-old vines.