2003 Barolo Francia

Wine Details
Place of Origin

Italy

Serralunga D'alba

Piedmont

Color

Red

Grape/Blend

Nebbiolo

Reviews & Tasting Notes

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Drinking Window

2014 - 2028

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Roberto Conterno waited until October 8 to bring in his Nebbiolo, very late by the standard of the year. In 2003, Conterno decided against bottling his Monfortino, so there is only one Barolo, the Cascina Francia. Unlike many of his colleagues, Conterno believes Nebbiolo can withstand rain, but is much more susceptible to extreme heat, which is one of the reasons Monfortino has been made in very rainy years such as 1987 and 2002, but not warm vintages such as 2003 and 2007.

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Roberto Conterno's 2002 Barolo Monfortino is a legend before its time, as the neighbors have been talking about it for years and the wine is still nowhere near being bottled. In this mostly dreadful vintage in which virtually no producers released single-vineyard wines, Conterno announced early on that he'd be offering the estate's flagship Monfortino bottling. The reason? Conterno's Cascina Francia vines in Serralunga were spared the September hailstorm, and Conterno let the fruit hang very late in order to get sound phenolic ripeness. "It basically stopped raining after the early September hailstorm in the region and we benefited from a long period with cool nights. We eventually harvested in Cascina Francia on October 18 and 19, eliminating only the dried grapes. There was very little need to throw out anything else in 2002. " Conterno went on: "There was no in-between in this vintage," he told me. "There's either nebbiolo, which in this region was unfortunately often bottled as Barolo, or there's wine with great power. When we saw what we had harvested, my father said 'let's make only Monfortino. '" Conterno told me I was the first journalist he had showed the wine to (?), then made me promise not to publish a note. I can report that the sample I tasted, though reduced, had a very deep color; a wonderfully primary, sappy nose; almost shockingly young flavors of black fruits and minerals; and building tannins that reached the incisors. It clearly offers outstanding potential, but it remains to be seen how the market will respond to an expensive cult bottling from a forgettable vintage. As a rule, Conterno bottles his Monfortino after seven years of aging in large ovals. ("The reason we harvest so late is that we use only the tannins from the grapes, so we need to have full phenolic maturity," Conterno explained. ) He racks his wine three or four times in the first year, then once a year "at most" thereafter. "The 2001 went two or three years without a racking," he told me. "There's no rule; it depends on how the wine tastes. You know, it's more important that people recognize my wines in a tasting than like them. Otherwise we risk getting lost in the ocean of wine. " Conterno loves the 2004 vintage for both barbera and nebbiolo. "We had incredible fruit and there are many similarities to 2001: similar quantity and similar elements. In both years we eliminated about half of the grapes in a green harvest, and we made only about 28 hectoliters per hectare of Barolo in both years. " (Numerous importers, including Douglas Polaner Selections, New York, NY and The Rare Wine Company, Sonoma, CA)

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Drinking Window

2013 - 2023

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This is another set of superb releases from Giacomo Conterno one of the bastions of traditionally made Barolos. While Conterno's wines have often been profound, in recent vintages the estate has found another level of finesse that was sometimes m issing in the wines. It is hard to say if that is because of a general trend towards warmer vintages, the estate's focus on making just three wines, or small improvements in vineyard and cellar work, but the fact remains that over the past few vintages Roberto Conterno has produced the best and most cons istently outstanding wines in h is venerable firm's long h istory. The wines he has in barrel amply confirm th is very positive trend.

Importer Details
Polaner Selections

Imports to: United States

Address: 19 N Moger Ave, Mt Kisco, NY 10549

Phone: +1 (914) 244-0404

Email: info@polanerselections.com

Website: https://polanerselections.com

The Rare Wine Co.

Imports to: United States

Address: 280 Valley Drive, Brisbane, CA 94005

Phone: (415) 319-9000

Email: sales@rarewineco.com

Website: rarewineco.com