The 2008 Barbera d’Alba Cascina Francia is a classic Conterno Barbera. Layers of dark, brooding fruit come forth gradually, along with exotic scents of new leather, licorice, tar and soy that add complexity. This is a decidedly reserved, mineral-driven Barbera that will appeal most to readers who appreciate the focused side of Barbera as opposed to more opulent vintages such as 2007 where the fruit is decidedly forward. The Cascina Francia shows greater richness and density than the Ceretta, suggesting the direction that wine is likely to take in coming years. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2023.
Few properties are so closely linked with a single site as Giacomo Conterno. Since 1978 the Cascina Francia vineyard in Serralunga, a monopole holding, has been the source of all of the estate’s wines, including the Baroli Cascina Francia and Monfortino, rightly considered by most observers as among the most profound wines in the world. Needless to say, it was big news when proprietor Roberto Conterno purchased three hectares in Ceretta, also in Serralunga, in 2008. Would the new wines reflect the same house aesthetic as the wines from Cascina Francia, or would the terroir of Ceretta be the dominant factor? Could Ceretta yield wines of similar importance as those of Cascina Francia? After all, Cascina Francia was a cornfield with a few old vines from a past life when the Conternos purchased it in 1974. These were some of the questions Barolo lovers asked, and now, two years later some answers have begun to emerge. The first, and most obvious, is that the new wines are loaded with the Conterno house style. That said, they are works in progress. Roberto Conterno took over his parcels in Cerretta in mid-2008, after which he had the misfortune of suffering through several hailstorms. When I visited the new vineyards in the summer of 2008 Conterno told me he thought it would take two to three years for the vines to respond to his methods of viticulture. Clearly 2008 is not the optimal vintage by which to measure the ultimate potential of these wines, but there appears to be much to look forward to based on the 2009s I tasted from barrel recently. All of that said, the star among these new releases is without question the 2002 Monfortino, a wine that is destined to carve a place for itself as one of the greatest wines ever made. That it is the product of a vintage that was disastrous for nearly every other producer in Piedmont will only add to the shroud of mystique that has surrounded this wine since its birth.
Importers: Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY; tel. (914) 244-0404, The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484
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