2000 Barolo Bussia Soprana

The Conternos made no wines in 2002, and there will be no Barolo crus in 2003. "It was too hot for nebbiolo in Barolo; the best sites were fried by the sun, and the grapes had no acidity," said Giacomo Conterno, who with his brothers Stefano and Franco assists father Aldo, "but 2003 was a great year for barbera. "Incidentally, Giacomo assured me that there was no truth to the rumor that this estate was for sale. The story arose when the local edition of the Italian newspaper La Stampa reported that actor Gerard Depardieu was seeking to buy a Barolo estate in the Monforte area, even though the article did not name names. "It was good publicity for us, free advertising," noted Aldo Conterno. Aldo emphasized that although his estate is often described as increasingly modernist in orientation, "we are always traditional with Barolo; it's our other wines we experiment with," said Aldo. "We already have noble, smooth Barolo tannins, and we don't like sweet wood tannins. "

Franco Conterno was highly optimistic about the 2001 vintage, describing it as "better than 2000 for all of our wines, though not as strong as 1999." He went on: "In 2000 we had a very dry season, with just enough rain to have a normal good vintage. These wines are a bit like '97 but with more acidity. The problem for the '99s is that they're just too young now. They're strong in all the elements, and they respect the typicity of nebbiolo. Vintage '98 is not quite so rich, but very elegant. And '97 is too round and ripe, with not enough acidity. It's less fine and perfumed than our favorite years."The Conternos (Aldo's son Stefano is the winemaker, Giacomo works in the office and Franco is in charge of exports) eschew small barrels for their Barolos but use all new barriques to age their Bussiador chardonnay, their red blend Quartetto and their Il Favot nebbiolo. "There's nothing wrong with barriques," Franco points out. "It's a question of how you use them. A Ferrari with Schumacher at the wheel is a very good car; with me it would be dangerous." The Conterno Barolos spend eight to ten days on their skins, just until the end of the fermentation. A propeller in the fermenter keeps the cap wet and allows for quicker extraction of color. The seeds fall into a trough at the bottom of the tank, enabling the Conternos to extract without getting bitter tannins.