2005 Barolo Romirasco
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Giacomo Conterno, who is responsible for the vineyards while his brothers Stefano and Franco take care of winemaking and sales, emphasized to me that this family winery is still old school. "My father [Aldo] always said that you need to wait if you want to have a great vintage. We wait for maximum phenolic ripeness, which normally comes two or three days after full sugar ripeness. Then you get the possibility of extracting a full range of aromas-not just fruit." In 2005, Giacomo went on, the terroir made the difference. "It was necessary to have ripe fruit before the big rain came. We picked half before and half afterwards and did two separate vinifications. We didn't find a big difference in color but there was a big difference in taste. The early-picked fruit gave elegant, pleasurable wines-not especially deep but very floral-but the late fruit showed unbalanced tannins and we sold it off in bulk." Conterno emphasized that the estate makes 40% less wine now than they did in the 1990s. He also admitted that there was a dip in quality here from 1995 through 1999. "The new generation [Giacomo and his brothers] did too much experimentation, and we picked too early. Now we're doing more and different pruning and we sacrifice production to make the best wines possible," he explained. Conterno likened 2006 to 1989 ("classic"), and 2007 to 1990 ("sweet"), but noted that a fierce hail storm in late May of '07 resulted in the loss of 100% of the Romirasco fruit, 70% of Colonnello and 40% of Cicala. As Gran Bussia comes mostly from Romirasco, this bottling will not be offered in 2007.
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Aldo Conterno is back. After a period of inconsistent wines (by this house's standards) in the mid- to late-1990s, Conterno once again takes its place among the region's top producers. Today the estate is run by Aldo Conterno's three sons Giacomo, Franco and Stefano Conterno who look after vineyards, marketing, winemaking and respectively. Based on the wines I have tasted recently this venerable property looks to be in great hands for the future. The 2005s are a worthy follow-up to the hugely successful 2004s, leaving no doubt that 2004 and 2005 are the finest back to back vintages here since the historic 1989 and 1990. The 2005 Barolos represent a new point of arrival after the estate embarked on a major rethinking of its work in the vineyards in the late 1990s, which involved among other things shorter winter pruning (designed to lower yields naturally) and a greater amount of attention to canopy management. In 2005 the estate harvested only a portion of each of its vineyards before the rains, while some of the fruit was brought in after the rains. In the end, only the fruit that was harvested before the inclement weather set in was bottled, so overall production in 2005 is roughly 40% of normal. On the plus side, there will be a small amount of Granbussia. These gorgeous, uplifting 2005 Barolos firmed up quite a bit in the glass, suggesting they are headed for a slumber that hopefully won't last too long, as the wines are truly special. Stylistically the wines are made in the medium-bodied style that is characteristic of the 2005 Barolos, but offer terrific harmony and drinkability.
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The Conterno family has consolidated its range of offerings in recent vintages. There is no longer a Quartetto bottling, nor is La Bussianella made any more, as the estate's very old freisa vines were producing fruit too high in potential alcohol for this style. There's also no more Chardonnay Printanie, as the vines have gotten old enough to make "serious barrique wine," according to Franco Conterno. The freisa will now go into a new wine, simply called Langhe, along with 20% cabernet and merlot, while the nebbiolo previously used for the Quartetto will go into the Favot and the barbera will be used for the Conca Tre Pile. Furthering the consolidation theme, Conterno is now working with just a single agent for sales in the U. S. According to Franco Conterno, vintage 2004 is "great across the board, very classic. " He went on: "The 2004s are less sweet than the 2001s but are velvety-rich, like a cross between '01 and '99. " The Conternos made no Barolos in either 2003 or 2002. "Two thousand three produced inelegant wines with high alcohol," said Franco, who said that the Conternos made Il Favot by picking grapes very early, in mid-September. (I should note that several other producers told me in September of 2004 that they were considering not bottling their 2003 Barolos, or at least not their vineyard-designated wines, but in the end many of them did. )
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