A Rare Tasting of Conterno Barolos
By ERIC ASIMOV
THE Barolos of Giacomo Conterno are among the most beautiful wines in the world: gorgeously pure and packed with flavors that feel almost three-dimensional. Despite the intensity, the texture is sheer, almost delicate, like silken threads that can suspend bridges.
And yet, with wines like this, the flavors and aromas are really only the start.
Great wines pack history into a glass...
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 exclusi...
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 b...
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 t...
The Conterno crown jewel, Monfortino, is not only arguably the greatest Barolo; it was also the very first Barolo made in what has come to be known as the classic style. At the time that Roberto Conterno's grandfather Giacomo served in World War I, Barolo was generally sold in either cask or demijohn, meant for early drinking. But in 1920, when Giacomo returned from the war, he decided to create a Barolo with immense aging potential. That wine...
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