2021 Barbera d'Alba Vigna Francia

Conterno fans will find a lot to like in the 2020 Barolos. For starters, Conterno bottled all his single-vineyard Barolos and Monfortino, which means readers will be able to compare all the wines, something that has not always been possible in recent years, in vintages where Conterno has chosen to just make Monfortino, or no Monfortino at all. One of the recent changes here has been a decision to shorten time in cask by a year for the Barolos. “At a certain point, we noticed the wines weren’t gaining anything by spending an additional year in cask,” Conterno told me. Given its longer aging, time in wood for Monfortino is more of vintage-by-vintage decision, although, here, too, the general trend is also to give the wine less time in cask. In other news, Conterno recently announced his acquisition of Ristorante Bovio in La Morra. Ristorante Bovio is one of the most loved restaurants in the region. It will be interesting to see what things look like when the restaurant re-opens (with a new name) in a few months’ time. In my view, there is no stronger message a producer can send than investing in their own region.