The producer
Giacomo took over his family’s business, based in Barolo commune Monforte d’Alba, in the 1920s, and years later, in the early 1960s, passed the reins to his sons, Giovanni and Aldo. The brothers went their separate ways in 1969. Giovanni kept the family’s Giacomo Conterno estate and continued his father’s tradition of purchasing the finest grapes and making solidly traditional Barolos, which included very long maceration periods in order to extract complexity and a strong tannic backbone in the wines, and many years ageing in large neutral oak casks. In 1974, Giovanni acquired the Cascina Francia vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba.
When Giovanni passed away in 2004, his son Roberto took over, and while having continued his father and grandfather’s traditional approaches, he has also introduced a few slightly more modern ways, including wooden vats for fermentation and large Austrian casks which he use alongside the traditional Slavonian casks for ageing the wines. The two key wines from this estate are Barolo Riserva ‘Monfortino’ and Barolo ‘Cascina Francia’.
The wine
The cult wine that is Conterno’s Monfortino is made from fruit sourced from a selection of the best parcels in the family’s Francia vineyard. Only around 600 cases are produced each vintage and Monfortino is only produced in the finest years. Inarguably the most perfect expression of Nebbiolo, Monfortino ages for around 6-8 years in neutral oak barrels and is a richly powerful and structured wine with an almost ethereal complexity and balance. While regarded as one of the finest Barolos, and indeed Italian wines, its price often exceeds £1,000 a bottle.
