Paolo Conterno

Founded by Paolo Conterno in 1886, it was Paolo’s son Carlo who started to bottle the estate’s own production in small quantities. Today the estate, spanning 10 ha which are mainly centred around the fabulous Ginestra Cru of Monforte, is managed by the fourth generation of Conternos, Giorgio and Marisa. The Baroli are aged in large 35hl French oak barrels for at least 3 years followed by a further 6-12 months in bottle, whilst the Baroli Riserva is aged for 4 year in barrel and 12 months in bottle. Thanks to Giorgio and Marisa the plaudits have been streaming in of late. They seem to have an extraordinary ability to take the stout, mineral and sturdy form Monforte Baroli so often have and craft them in to something very polished without loss of character. This has now become an exciting Barolo estate well worth following.

2015 Vintage

For Giorgio Conterno no year is ever the same, but the work never changes: “we have to adapt and always be in the vineyard and so it was with 2015. The key to the vintage was to not overripen the grapes and go gentle on the winemaking. As ever tasting the grapes was more important than the technical analysis. Technically acidity was not high but the wine tastes fresh.” Harvest was completed during the first week of October. The aim was to wait until grapes were properly ripe but before they started to lose their juice. 2015 has proved a great match for the style of Barolo made here. The natural freshness of the Monforte region has no doubt been one factor in the success of the wines. The other was Giorgio tweaking his traditional winemaking with slightly lower fermentation temperatures than usual. As ever the wines have been made in the traditional way, with long slow macerations and ageing in large used oak casks, but unarguably the Ginestra offers a generosity and approachability it rarely displays in youth - without forsaking its naturally earthy character. Well-crafted, seductive Ginestra.

2016 Vintage

Giorgio Conterno is one of the unsung heroes of Piedmont. With some prime plots within Ginestra he has some of the most outstanding vineyard real estate in Barolo at his disposal. And he certainly makes the most of it, producing these densely-packed traditional Barolos that are crammed full of hearty, dark, minerally “Ginestra” character. They have huge capacity to age - decades of time can pass without the wines’ dark fruit and bright minerality waning. Giorgio considers 2016 to be “the kind of vintage that only comes once in a while. A really classic, typical expression of Barolo. We had the perfect conditions during the year and the harvest. We had the time to risk all and wait to get ripeness with big temperature changes of about 10 degrees which was absolutely perfect. Quantity combined with quality means the wines are naturally measured with no excess. Like 2001 and 2010 - a typical classical vintage but with more approachability.”