1996 | Giacomo Conterno | Monfortino

Fabulous aromas of crushed strawberry, flowers and light dried porcini. Full-bodied, with ripe fruit and a pruny undertone. Round and caressing.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: 1996 G. Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino—Dark red. The 1996 Monfortino opens with a breathtaking nose that is to die for. Expressive aromas of leather, spices, cocoa, and roses gradually emerge from the glass. On the palate the wine displays masses of concentrated fruit that coat the palate with extraordinary length and expansiveness and with a purity of expression that keeps me coming back to wine time and again. Although it remains quite youthful and somewhat dominated by its structure, I am encouraged by its development. Perhaps we won’t have to wait decades to enjoy this wine at its prime. That said, my earlier drinking window (after 2006) appears to have been overly optimistic. This was a great showing by one of Barolo’s legendary wines from a legendary vintage.

• James Suckling: The 1996 Barolo Riserva Monfortino came across as far more harmonious, with a gorgeous, rich core of fruit that balanced the firm 1996 tannins with wonderful class. Of course wines go through periods of being more or less closed, but on this night the 1996 Monfortino was head and shoulders above the Cascina Francia, something that was far less obvious in vintages such as 1999 and 1990.

Producer Information

Giacomo Conterno is a widely acclaimed Barolo producer based just outside Monforte d'Alba in the south of the Barolo DOCG zone in Piedmont, northwestern Italy. It is best known for its Cascina Francia and the Monfortino Riserva Barolo labels, both of which are long-lived and earthy. In 1908, Giovanni Conterno opened a small tavern in the village of San Giuseppe, making Barolo to supply the business. The first Riserva was bottled around the time of World War I, and was one of the first examples of producer-bottled Barolo at a time when most were sold in bulk for early consumption. Giovanni's son Giacomo took over when his father died in 1934, and ran the estate until his death in 1961. His sons, Giovanni and Aldo, worked together until the latter left in 1969 over stylistic differences, forming his own estate. Roberto Conterno, grandson of Giacomo, took charge in 2003. It was in 1974 that Conterno acquired the acclaimed 16-hectare (40-acre) Cascina Francia site in Serralunga d'Alba. This was a promising southwest-facing site on chalky soil, but at the time was a wheat field. Nebbiolo vines were planted and the vineyard's first vintage was in 1978, after which the reputation of the estate began to soar. In 2009, Conterno purchased the three hectare (7.5 acre) Ceretta plot, which is used to make the Langhe Nebbiolo. Then in 2015 the estate bought the nine hectare (22 acre) Arione vineyard to the south of Serralunga d'Alba. The Monfortino Riserva Barolo is only made in excellent vintages and is aged for at least seven years in very large Slovenian oak casks known as "botti". Conterno uses this traditional method to make its wines to avoid excessive vanillin sweetness. The Cascina Francia site makes both a single-vineyard Barolo and a Barbera d'Alba. The Langhe Nebbiolo is the estate's entry-level offering. Assuming a satisfactory vintage, production levels for the Barbera and Cascina Francia Barolo are around 20,000 bottles each a year. In exceptional years, around 7000 bottles of Riserva may be produced.

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