2000 Barolo Riserva Granbussia

Aldo Conterno's 2000s are quite foward relative to their historical track records. As expected, the Granbussia is the strongest wine in the bunch, but none of these three Baroli appears to be built for the very long haul.

Aldo Conterno's Barolo Riserva Granbussia has long been one of Piedmont's icon wines so it was with great pleasure that I sat down recently with brothers Franco and Giacomo Conterno to survey seven vintages of their top Barolo. Needless to say, the opportunity to taste these wines from impeccably stored bottles was an enormous privilege and made for a very enjoyable afternoon. Poderi Aldo Conterno was founded in 1969 when brothers Aldo and Giovanni Conterno divided the family's Giacomo Conterno estate over philosophical differences. Aldo was interested in creating a more approachable style of Barolo while Giovanni wanted to produce his wines in a rigorously classic style. Aldo moved to the Bussia zone of Monforte where he purchased the Cicala and Colonello vineyards, making him an exception rather than the rule during a time when it was much more common for wineries to buy grapes rather than work with estate-owned fruit. Giovanni continued to make his wines under the existing Giacomo Conterno label. The brothers also divided their existing stock of wines, which explains the existence of Aldo Conterno bottles in vintages that pre-date 1969. Granbussia was first produced in a test version in 1970. The first commercial release was 1971. The early vintages of Granbussia were made predominantly from the Cicala and Colonnello vineyards. A small addition of 10-15% fruit from the Romirasco vineyard was added to the blend, but the family chose not to feature this vineyard as it was the only plot they rented at the time and their ability to continue to source fruit was always a question mark. In 1980 Conterno acquired Romirasco as well and the vineyard subsequently became the main component of the wine. Beginning with the 1982 Conterno began using same blend of 70% Romirasco, 15% Cicala and 15% Colonnello for the Granbussia that is used today. Of these terroirs Cicala is the poorest and therefore yields the sturdiest wines. Colonnello lies just a few meters from the border with neighboring Barolo. It has a higher percentage of sand and gives the most delicate wines. Romirasco contains a blend of both soil types. The wines naturally exhibit a combination of the structure of Cicala with the finesse of Colonnello. Granbussia is only made in vintages in which all three vineyards give outstanding results. For example, 2004 was a great vintage, but Cicala was hit by hail, so there will be no 2004 Granbussia. Granbussia spends three years in oak. It is then moved to stainless steel for two years, a practice that, as far as I know, is unique among Barolo producers. “We aim to make wines that have plenty of primary aromatics and fruit,” explains Giacomo Conterno. “Our father (Aldo) always remarked how well wines aged in larger formats,” adds Franco Conterno. “He wanted to preserve as much of that freshness as possible by leaving the wine for two years in steel prior to bottling. Above all else he was concerned with cleanliness, a value he instilled in us early on,” adds Conterno. “We age our Barolos exclusively in large Slavonian oak casks. One of our challenges is keeping the barrels perfectly clean, so each year we recondition the casks by scraping out the part of the oak that has been in contact with the wine.” This practice explains the presence of new oak flavors in the wines when they are young. Granbussia has always been about elegance and refinement rather than about sheer power, which is in contrast to the approach many estates take in bottling their most structured wine as the riserva. Today it is also very unusual for an estate's top wine to be a blend, as most wineries feature single-vineyard selections for their riservas. The hallmarks of Granbussia are perfumed aromatics, sweet cherry fruit, soft tannins and notable finesse, qualities which are amply evident in these seven wines.

Consumers who enjoy the wines of Aldo Conterno would do well to pick up this estate's excellent 2001s. This perfectionist producer has bottled none of his 2002s and 2003s. “2003 was just too hot. When temperatures go above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Farenheit) without respite, the plants shut down and the seeds don't ripen fully. If the fruit is harvested too soon, the wines retain these green, hard tannins which can be quite unpleasant,” explains Giacomo Conterno, Aldo's son. Turning more upbeat, Conterno says “I do think 2004 has all the ingredients to be a great year.” “In my opinion, it should be possible to tell if a wine is balanced and well-made as soon as it is in the bottle,” says Conterno. “Of course a young Barolo will be tannic, and in need of bottle age to reach its maximum expression, but the idea that a Barolo should be tough and inaccessible when young, and need 30 years to reach greatness is absurd. I want to make Barolos that will be delicious after 4-5 years, and that will continue to improve for decades after that.” In terms of winemaking, the house style is divided along two lines. The estate's four Barolos are vinified in the same manner. The wines are fermented in horizontal fermenters, “which are different from the more violent rotary fermenters,” explains Conterno. Fermentation and maceration lasts 2-3 weeks, depending on the vintage. The wines are then aged in Slavonian oak casks ranging from 25 to 75 hectoliters, which are changed every 15-18 years. Selected yeasts are not used. The wines are very approachable, even in a structured vintage such as 2001, and tend to show a lot of sweet fruit in their youths as well as notes of spices and vanilla that suggest at least some new oak. These are very clean and polished wines of great elegance.

To say that the last few vintages have been a challenge for this domaine would be an understatement. The estate did not produce any Barolo in 2002. Then came the scorching 2003 vintage. “Ideally Nebbiolo needs an alternation of temperatures during the summer and fall. During the day the plants develop their sugars, and then when the temperatures cool off in the evening the plants synthesize their perfumes and tannins. 2003 was just too hot for Barolo. Initially I though we would release a single bottling made from our best fruit but when I tasted the wine it was cooked, and marmalade is not what I want to taste in a Barolo. We decided to de-classify our 2003 Nebbiolos and sold the wine in bulk. We did much better in 2003 with our Nebbiolo Favot, which is made from our youngest vines. As you know, when plants are young they produce many more leaves than older vines. In 2003 the extra cover from these leaves helped keep our grapes from burning on the vines, and the resulting wine is surprisingly well-balanced for the vintage, although ultimately the most successful varietal in the vintage was unquestionably Barbera,” explains Giacomo Conterno. Unfortunately the estate's run of bad luck continued in 2004. The Cicala vineyard was damaged by hail, so there will be no Barolo from this vineyard nor will there be a Riserva Granbussia, which typically contains 15% Cicala fruit in the blend. Instead the fruit from Romirasco, which makes up the core of Granbussia, will be bottled separately for the first time since 1993. In the meantime, readers will have to make do with the Barolos that are already on the market as well as newer releases of more accessible wines in the line. Fortunately there is a lot to admire in these wines. When it comes to vintages Conterno says “I am a traditionalist, so my preference among current vintages is 2001, 1999, and 2000. I am a big believer in 1999. It is a classic vintage for long-lived wines. 1999 and 2000 remind me very much of 1989 and 1990. Early on most people loved the 1990s, and they are certainly beautiful wines, but today when we taste both vintages side-by-side in most cases the 1989s have held up better. While the wines may have been closed in their youths, all they needed was bottle age to express the true essence of Nebbiolo. The early enthusiasm over 2000 was similar to what we saw with the 1985s, where the early hype has proven over time to be exaggerated. 2001, on the other hand has some qualities of both vintages, along with an incredible amount of finesse, and I confess that in my heart I just love the 2001s.”