The organic Conterno Fantino 2021 Langhe Nebbiolo Ginestrino (with 40,000 bottles released) has a spicy note of white pepper along with cassis and blue flower. This is an easy expression of Nebbiolo that succeeds both in terms of balance and varietal intensity. There is a hint of sweet cinnamon on the close.

The 2020 Langhe Nebbiolo Ginestrino is a fun little surprise that offers simple drinking pleasure. The wine presents varietal purity with small berry nuances, blue flower and lots of crushed mineral or chalky limestone. It balances out nicely to reveal a good amount of elegance at this reasonable price point. 31,434 bottles were released.

The 2019 Langhe Nebbiolo Ginestrino is forthcoming and bright with honest aromas that underline forest fruit and wild cherry. This is a pleasurable and easy-drinking wine that shows a mid-weight approach with plenty of bitter almond, tar and pressed violets that appear as background shadings. Fresh acidity makes this a great choice to pair with a creamy beef stroganoff or something similar. Production is 31,350 bottles.

The Conterno Fantino 2018 Langhe Nebbiolo Ginestrino opens to fragrant and delicate aromas straight from the Nebbiolo playlist. The wine opens to pretty aromas of wild cherry, rose, blood orange and iron ore. Winemaking starts with stainless steel and concludes with 10 months in French oak. The vines are planted in clay soils, and when you study the bouquet in depth, you do perceive a tad more structure and concentration as a result. Production is an ample 35,500 bottles.

This is the best edition of Ginestrino I have tasted. It is also one of the best Langhe Nebbiolos in recent memory. I recommend you buy the 2016 Langhe Nebbiolo Ginestrino not by the bottle but by the case load. Conterno Fantino does not make a so-called base or village Barolo. Instead, it offers this wine as if it were a Barolo. It is released early (with 40,000 bottles this year) to showcase the delicious primary fruit. The bouquet offers beautiful layering of wild berry, spice, cola, anise seed and rose hip. The tannins are silky and smooth.