2012 Barolo Romirasco

Aldo Conterno was one of the first producers I met in Piedmont. We arrived on a cold Saturday morning and ended up spending several hours at the estate. Impeccably polite, Conterno represented the values of that very specific kind of old-fashioned Piedmontese formality that one rarely sees these days. Today, the estate is run by Conterno's sons Franco, Giacomo and Stefano. I confess I found the 2012s perplexing. The wines are dark, oaky and heavy. More importantly, though, I don't see a clear sense of direction. In other words, it's hard to get a sense of where the estate is going. Until that is sorted out, these wines, are, sadly, an easy pass.