Sadly, in 1989 Mother Nature was not kind to Conterno, as hail wreaked havoc on the vines. There was no Monfortino that year, and Conterno released just 4,000 bottles of his 1989 Barolo Cascina Francia. Leather, spices, tobacco and licorice are some of the nuances that emerge from this austere, powerful Barolo. In this context, next to a set of profound 1989s and Conterno’s own 1990s, the wine suffers a bit, but it is still magical juice. At some point in the future, the wine’s structural components are likely to dominate over the fruit, but that date appears to be well off in the future. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025.
Giovanni Conterno was one of the icons of his generation. These three Barolos are some of Conterno’s finest achievements in a distinguished career that was cut tragically short in 2004. Conterno was among the first growers to recognize that owning his own vineyards would ultimately allow for greater control over the quality of his fruit, a forward-thinking view at a time when Piedmont was dominated by a negociant culture of large bottlers who bought grapes and wine in bulk from smaller properties. In 1974 Conterno spent a princely sum to acquire Cascina Francia, the vineyard that would become the exclusive source for his Barolos. Cascina Francia, a high-altitude monopole in the village of Serralunga, is typically one of the last vineyards in the Barolo region to be harvested. Conterno’s epic Barolo Riserva Monfortino, arguably the single most important wine made in Italy, is a selection of plots within the vineyard. The exact source of the fruit can vary from year to year, but Monfortino is only made in the finest vintages. Both Conterno Barolos are vinified along rigorously traditional methods, with long fermentations and extended aging in oak that reaches seven years (sometimes more) for the Monfortino. These are reference-point bottles for readers who seek to understand the genius of one of Piedmont’s truly legendary producers.
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