Wine Advisor
Giacomo Conterno, Barbera d'Alba Vigna Francia 2014
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2014 Barbera d'Alba Francia is a surprisingly rich, powerful wine, especially for the year. An exotic mélange of dark cherry, plum, lavender, sage, cloves and graphite builds in the glass. There is a level of demi-glace-like textural richness that is impossible to miss. Intense and virile, the 2014 will drink beautifully for a number of years.
Reviewed by: Monica Larner
The 2014 Barbera d'Alba Francia opens to beautiful fullness and sheer depth that represents the darker, softer and more generous side of this grape. I tasted the wine from barrel approximately one month before bottling. Roberto Conterno says that 2014 was a good year for both Barbera, but especially Nebbiolo that experienced a natural selection process in the vineyard due to low yields. This wine offers ripe fruit tones with bold lines and beautifully balanced concentration.
About the Producer
Roberto Conterno took full control over the running of this famous estate just outside Monforte d'Alba, Piedmont, in 2003, when his father Giovanni Conterno passed away. Giovanni was the oldest son of the winery founder, Giacomo Conterno, and initially worked alongside his brother, Aldo Conterno. In 1969 the two sibling winemakers parted ways to create their own styles of Barolo. Roberto continues to practice the traditional winemaking techniques of the area, producing long-lived, earthy wines. The focus has been strictly on nebbiolo and barbera since their freisa and dolcetto vines were grubbed up. Roberto also stresses the importance of organic viticulture especially in the early years of the vines' growth. The estate is most renowned for its great Barolos, Cascina Francia and Monfortino Riserva. The latter is produced only in the very best of vintages and aged at least 7 years in large oak 'botti'. This is regarded as one of the finest Barolos produced today and by many as the finest wine made from Nebbiolo in the world.
