For more than five generations the Conterno family has served as a touchstone in the heritage of Barolo. In 1908 when grandfather Giovanni Conterno started making wines, he believed that wines like his were the province of a great vintage, supported by long fermentation and aging periods to facilitate longevity. His son Giacomo inherited this philosophy, and he in turn passed it and the winery to his sons, Giovanni and Aldo, who worked together until 1969 when Aldo branched off and founded his own eponymous estate. Today after Giovanni’s death, his son Roberto continues to create those earthy wines with notes of roses and tar that made Barolo the gold standard that it is.

 

We’ve all heard the less than favorable reviews regarding 2002 Piemontese wines. However, the vintage allowed Roberto to show his true genius of vineyard management and wine making, coupled with a bit of luck. While other winemakers struggled to make a passable wine from the hail-damaged 2002 vintage, Conterno’s vineyards managed to get through unscathed and, during the media frenzy following the negative reports, he did the unthinkable. He announced that he would bottle his entire harvest as Monfortino! He attributes this qualitative feat to his rigorous, masterful grape selection, pulling off berries that seemed unlikely to ripen while leaving the healthiest grapes on the vines until late October. These two factors led to very low yields and allowed the grapes to fully recover from the rain and ripen brilliantly. This bottling, with 8 years of age already, will surely go down in wine history as an ultimate collectible treasure. The wine will certainly need time in the cellar. Roberto believes it is the most structured wine lying in his cellar.

Robert Parker 98: "Conterno’s 2002 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is a legend in the making, or now that it is in bottle, it may be more correct to simply say it is a legend. The late Giovanni Conterno and his son Roberto Conterno created quite a stir when they announced that they would make their Monfortino in 2002, a year in which most of the harvest in Piedmont was severely compromised by a cold summer and devastating hail in early September. But there was more. The Conternos not only announced that they would make their Monfortino in 2002 but no Barolo Cascina Francia for the first time ever in the estate’s history. In a bit of defiance towards the press, the Conternos then announced no one would be allowed to taste the wine from barrel. Over the years, this stance softened. Visitors lucky enough to visit the cellars and sample the wine from cask knew what was in store. Simply put, the 2002 Monfortino is stratospheric. A dark, imposing, but sensual wine, it flows from the glass with a breathtaking array of dried roses, autumn leaves, wild cherries, plums, new leather, espresso, licorice and spices, showing phenomenal depth, richness and balance. The tension between the luxuriousness of the fruit and the austerity of the vintage is truly captivating. I have tasted the 2002 Monfortino multiple times from barrel and bottle. At times it has reminded me of what I imagine the 1971 tasted like upon release, at other times it has seemed more similar to 1978. According to Giovanni Conterno, the 2002 reminded him of the 1971. Either way, the wine is extraordinary. The 2002 Monfortino is the result of the cold vintage that was typical of Piedmont up until the mid 1980s. In many ways, it is a throwback to wines that can’t be made anymore in Piedmont. Roberto Conterno thought so highly of the 2002 Monfortino he gave the wine an extra year in barrrel. And of course, there is one sad footnote. The world lost Giovanni Conterno to cancer in 2004, but he made sure his last Monfortino was at least equal, if not better, than his most monumental wines. There is little doubt the 2002 Monfortino will soon take its place as one of the greatest Monfortinos ever made. It is the most fitting last chapter to the life of one of the world’s greatest winemakers. As always, I suggest readers who have an interest in Monfortino taste the wine as soon as possible, as it will soon head into a period of dormancy, which in this vintage may last several decades. One of my favorite vintages for current drinking is the 1970, which still looks to have another 30 years of fine drinking ahead of it! Anticipated maturity: 2027-2052."

Wine Spectator 98: "This is incredibly fresh, vibrant and expressive, exhibiting complex aromas of red fruits, tar and licorice, with strawberry, sweet tobacco and mineral flavors. Intense and elegant at once, with finesse and structure, ending with a saline and mineral aftertaste. Try it in five years. Best from 2014 through 2040. 1,000 cases made."