Wine Advisor
Giacomo Conterno, Barolo Riserva Monfortino 2005
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: James Suckling
Incredibly polished Monfortino. The tannins caress your palate. Aromas of marzipan and dark fruits with orange peel and cedar. Dried fruits. Extremely floral as well. Full-bodied, with super fine tannins and a great elegance. You can drink now but will age for ages. Hard to believe it spent almost eight years in cask. Out in October.
Reviewed by: James Suckling
This is the most sought-after Barolo by collectors around the world, and the 2005 is wonderfully polished and refined. The tannins caress the palate with wonderful character of marzipan and dark fruit, orange peel and cedar. Drink or hold.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
A rich, sensual tapestry of dark plums, cherries, smoke, incense, tar and licorice emerges from the 2005 Barolo Riserva Monfortino. Exotic, rich and layered, the 2005 boasts gorgeous depth and a sensual enveloping personality. I am quite amazed at how the 2005 has developed since I last tasted it, in November 2011. The once-firm tannins have never been more elegant than they are today. That said, as good as the 2005 is, it doesn’t quite have the thrill factor of the very best vintages. Anticipated maturity: 2025-2045. A stop at this historic cellar in the center of Monforte is always fascinating, as no one keeps Barolo longer in cask than Roberto Conterno, giving the visitor a chance to taste numerous wines all in various stages of their maturation. If forced to pick a favorite recent vintage, I would vote for 2010, a year in which all of the wines are fabulous. Next would be 2008 and 2006, two super-classic years. Robero Conterno is by far the most enlightened of the traditional producers in Barolo. I don’t think too many producers taste their wines as often as Roberto Conterno does, but what really separates Conterno from the overwhelming majority of his peers is his intense intellectual curiosity about the world’s great wines. The Conterno wines remain traditional in interpretation, but they are also clearly the work of a winemaker living in his time and not the past. This set of new releases is full of highlights, but the Barbera from Conterno’s Cerretta vineyard is particularly of note because it is the most improved wine in the lineup. When Conterno purchased this plot in 2008, he told me it would take 2-3 years to get the vineyard into top shape. When I asked him recently where he was in that process, the answer was, “Ninety percent.” Readers should note that the two flagship Baroli, Cascina Francia and Monfortino, were especially shut down every time I tasted them this past summer. Conterno bottled a month earlier than normal this year, and I think that is the reason the wines were particularly impenetrable. Readers may also want to take a look at my previous reviews, based on barrel samples, for greater context. Importers: Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY; tel. (914) 244-0404; The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2005 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is a huge, explosive wine endowed with tons of fruit and equally formidable structure. It boasts tremendous length and a brightness in its fruit that suggests it will be very long lived. I have never truly loved the quality of the tannin in the 2005. It will be interesting to see what the next twelve months bring as the wine finishes its elevage in cask. Anticipated maturity: 2025-2045. Roberto Conterno’s 2008s capture the best qualities of the vintage. They are intensely perfumed and impeccably refined. These will be fascinating wines to follow over the coming years. As for the rest of the wines in cask, they are pretty spectacular, too. Today I am most optimistic about the 2010s, but there seems to be no shortage of great wines aging in this historic cellar. Readers who want to get an early impression on 2010 will want to check out Conterno’s Barbere, which are shaping up beautifully. Importers: Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY; tel. (914) 244-0404, The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2005 Barolo Riserva Monfortino, also the product of a cool vintage, comes across as a bit nervous today. It is an absolute infant by Monfortino standards, a wine that automatically forces the mind to project into the future. Readers lucky enough to own it will want to wait for at least a few years. Its freshness and energy suggest another few decades of fine drinking are in store.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
Tasting the 2005 Barolo Riserva Monfortino after the Cascina Francia is quite a shock. While the Cascina Francia is quite delicate, the Monfortino is a brute. Deep, dark and massively tannic, the 2005 is going to need as much as another decade to enter the early part of its drinking window. Sweet rose petal and mint notes gradually open up, but only offer a glimpse of what the 2005 will become. Monfortino is never giving in the early going (except right after bottling), so it is not much of a surprise to see it going through and awkward stage. Readers will have to be especially patient.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
I am totally taken aback by the 2005 Monfortino. Every other young Monfortino I have tasted from barrel has shown its quality and personality immediately. The 2005 is an exception. A wine that was hard and compact until quite recently, the 2005 is finally starting to open up. The fruit is incredibly pure, precise and brilliant, but the best is yet to come. This is a great showing from the 2005. Tasted from magnum.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
A rich, sensual tapestry of dark plums, cherries, smoke, incense, tar and licorice emerges from the 2005 Barolo Riserva Monfortino. Exotic, rich and layered, the 2005 boasts gorgeous depth and a sensual enveloping personality. I am quite amazed at how the 2005 has developed since I last tasted it, in November 2011. The once-firm tannins have never been more elegant than they are today. That said, as good as the 2005 is, it doesn't quite have the thrill factor of the very best vintages.
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2005 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is a huge, explosive wine endowed with tons of fruit and equally formidable structure. It boasts tremendous length and a brightness in its fruit that suggests it will be very long lived. I have never truly loved the quality of the tannin in the 2005. It will be interesting to see what the next twelve months bring as the wine finishes its elevage in cask.
Reviewed by: Stephen Tanzer
Good deep red. Tight but delicate and precise nose hints at violet and minerals; strong evidence of calcaire here. Then suave, silky and juicy, with bright acids framing the subtly sweet dark fruit flavors. More about perfume than sheer structure or depth, but then this wonderfully intense wine is currently in a rather imploded stage. With its insidious fruit sweetness, this wine should be easy to taste virtually from the day it's released.
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.
