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Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
Conterno’s Monfortino is a heavyweight contender for the best Barolo around, and it definitely has our vote. It’s a matchless experience of power paired with subtlety and the effect is quite seductive. As it opens, you’ll experience classic hints of rose, earthy black truffles, cigar box, and anise in a boldly structured wine that’s still quite fresh.
Antonio Galloni of Vinous said it’s a “magnificent” wine that “explodes from the glass with a luxurious, expansive personality that leaves me speechless.” The lucky people who share this bottle with you likely will never forget it.
Monfortino is the very first Barolo made in what has come to be known as the classic style. Earlier Barolos were generally sold in either cask or demijohn, and meant for early drinking. Giacomo decided to create a Barolo with great aging potential. His first wine wine was a 120 Barolo Riserva, and he soon adopted the name Monfortino in honor of his home village Montorte d'Alba.
In 1959 Giovanni Conterno began making the wine at his family domaine, taking over from his father Giacomo. The legendary Barolos he made in 1964, 1971, 1978, 1985 and 1990 have left their mark in Italian wine history.
Wine Information
Barolo Riserva Monfortino – Giacomo Conterno
The family-led “Conterno Giacomo” wine company has been working in the ambit of wine-making for ages, since 1770, as shown by a delivery bill, which traces back to that year. It is a passion which has always been passed on from fathers to sons.
Nowadays, all the grapes used for wine-making come from "Cascina Francia" vineyard, a small estate on a single plot located in Serralunga d'Alba countryside.
At present, their production focuses exclusively on two grapes typologies: Nebbiolo-da-Barolo and Barbera. All of their wines are made in full respect of the traditional method.
Only for very good vintages, the selection of the best Nebbiolo-da-Barolo grapes are kept apart to produce "Barolo Riserva Monfortino". This wine variety undergoes a different fermentation (not temperature controlled and the maceration is longer) and a longer aging in classic Slavonian large oak barrels.
After wine-making, the wines so produced are decanted into oak large barrels, where they rest before bottling. The aging for Monfortino is minimum 7 years.
Monfortino is the very first Barolo made in what has come to be known as the classic style. Earlier Barolos were generally sold in either cask or demijohn, and meant for early drinking. Giacomo decided to create a Barolo with great aging potential. His first wine wine was a 120 Barolo Riserva, and he soon adopted the name Monfortino in honor of his home village Montorte d'Alba.
In 1959 Giovanni Conterno began making the wine at his family domaine, taking over from his father Giacomo. The legendary Barolos he made in 1964, 1971, 1978, 1985 and 1990 have left their mark in Italian wine history.
Today Giovanni's son Roberto continues the traditions of his father and grandfather.
The company takes the greatest care of both the winery and “Cascina Francia” vineyard, because without this lovely accuracy it isn’t possible to get good wines at all!
Ageing: minimum 7 years in oak barrels
Conterno Giacomo
Azienda Vitinicola
12065 Monforte d’Alba loc. Ornati
Tel. +39 01737 8221
Fax. +39 01737 87190
www.conterno.it
Vuosikerta 1995
1995 marked the beginning of a series of strong vintages. Indeed, 1995 itself was a year that saw tribulations transformed into triumphs. Spring started off nicely with warm weather only to turn rainy during the blooming period, which effectively stopped fertilisation at its halfway point. An extremely hot July made a dramatic transition into a chilly August. Excess moisture also led to the spread of mold-related diseases. This moisture, however, was duly evaporated by the Indian summer that followed, thus saving the vintage. In Piedmont August hailstorms destroyed as much as 70% of plantations in some areas. Tuscany was spared from the hail and the hot topic of discussion that autumn was the 45-day stretch without rain just before the harvest.
Wines from this vintage are very long-lasting and still require further bottle maturation to reach their full potential. In my opinion, the Chianti Classicos should be drunk right now, even though they could do with a bit more maturation.