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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 92.9 pts. and median of 93 pts. in 105 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Warren23 on 1/14/2024 & rated 91 points: Wonderful mouth feel and verve for a 60 year old Barolo. Superb balance, elegant, with notes of tobacco, leather, cherry and blackberry. Not as good as the last bottle, with a medium finish. 91-92. (702 views) | | | Tasted by misterstarre on 11/11/2023 & rated 93 points: This had clear, light orange-pink color resting on top of the red-brown sediment. I had this upright for 3 weeks poured the clear wine into a decanter, leaving a third of the bottle with very light sediment kicking up. I carefully poured another glass to decant, and then that glass went in the decanter too. It was a lot of work separating the sediment, but worth it. When this first hit the air, it was sweet, tart, and thin. A younger me would have been disappointed, but this was 1:00 in the afternoon and we wouldn't get to this wine until 9:30. In those several hours, the wine woke up and remembered were it left its fruit and body! Orange zest leapt from the class, and the mouth --very light bodied -- had wonderfully aged sweet cherry, rose petals, volatile orange zest spray, very light tar, and the sweetness of a very ripe tomato. This is overall a very delicate wine now, but if you treat this one with respect, you won't miss the filigreed details. (833 views) | | | Tasted by David Paris (dbp) on 11/10/2023: No formal notes taken as it was brought to an event, but I did want to put something to say this wine was quite fragile. Upon pop and pour, it revealed itself to be rather funky and closed, as these old Barolos tend to be. We decided to leave most of it in the bottle for a few hours. Those of us that came back to it around hour 2 found it nearly profound, showing a beautiful integration of soil tones and still expressing vibrant red fruits. For me, EXACTLY what I love in the top Barolos from the '50s and 60s. The palate texture was incredible at this stage and the integration of soil tones and fruit was aged Barolo perfection. This phase probably lasted 30 minutes, though, before the wine transitioned more towards all older leaves and dried up fruit and tannins. So for my next bottle, I will follow it quite closely, and if we get that window of beauty, slam back the bottle. At peak enjoyment this was somewhere 92-94 points (again, wasn't really paying attention), and on a pop and pour and hours later, it was low 80s. (652 views) | | | Tasted by vagrantone on 8/4/2023 & rated 93 points: Well protected bottle still with wax and neck flyer.
Cork came out in one piece with Durant but crumbled almost completely.
Fairly pale as it's often the case with these aged Nebbiolo wines.
After a little hesitation, I decided to decant this wine which turned out to be the correct decision.
The wine kept evolving and opening up in the decanter for 12+ hours.
Enough tannin structure to hold it all together but not astringent. Clearly an old school Barolo.
Beautiful aromas, roses and tar, spices and a very long finish.
Still very enjoyable (1096 views) | | | Tasted by Staufer on 8/26/2022 & rated 94 points: On the nose .. orange blossom ; marmalade .. on the palate : tobacco.. hint of orange .. fig newton ( day old) ; grapefruit tardiness .. amber color .. glorious wine .. feel very blessed to be able to drink a wine like this (2175 views) | | | Tasted by Staufer on 1/22/2022 & rated 95 points: Wow !! I bought a couple of bottles at auction based on your comments and the wine is truly exceptional . I fully echo Warren23's note.
I never had the opportunity to drink a 50 year plus aged Barolo .
what a treat! (2613 views) | | | Tasted by Warren23 on 1/15/2022 & rated 95 points: Much better than the first bottle. In fact, it seems like we may have gotten a pristine, nearly perfect, bottle.
Absolutely exceptional - still has good brick red color and freshness. Gripping, with good fingering and tannins which give the wine excellent structure. Showing beautifully, with notes of blackberry, sweet blueberry, raspberry and earth floor. Wonderful mouth feel, with a medium finish (the only imperfection).
Opened about 2 1/2 hours before we drank. Did not use a decanter. (2479 views) | | | Tasted by Nanda on 11/13/2021 & rated 92 points: White Truffles & Nebbiolo - 2021 Edition (Chicago, IL): This was given a short decant and kept getting better with air. Last glass was the best as it approximated the 68 but lacked the completeness and intensity. (2991 views) | | | Tasted by acyso on 11/13/2021 & rated 93 points: Nebbiolos, white truffles, Volume VI (Chicago, IL): The pop and pour here was a disservice to this wine; it was weedy, thin, and unpleasant when we first tasted it. About five hours later, with maybe a third of the bottle remaining in a decanter, we revisited it and found it had shed most of the unpleasant stinky notes at first, and there was even a sweetness to the fruit here alongside some of the more classic floral perfume that emerged. The colour also appeared to have darkened. The overall arc here was not dissimilar to the 1968. Decant your old nebbiolos, boys and girls. (3313 views) | | | Tasted by englishman's claret on 10/10/2021 flawed bottle: I was served this wine by a knowledgeable Barolo aficionado who tells me on good authority this this wine usually shows a prominent oxidative note. Supposedly this actually improved with several hours of air, but I found it irredeemably oxidized. Normally I would mark this as flawed and move on but it’s worth pointing out the reportedly low success rate to the CT community. (2820 views) | | | Tasted by MC2 Wines on 8/23/2021: Old barolo is definitely a finicky breed and sometimes you need a ton of time and sometimes you worry it's going to fall apart. We drank this over the course of maybe an hour. I think it had been opened but not decanted till the restaurant. Perhaps a longer one would have woken it up a bit more? Or maybe it would have sent it over the hill. Either way I think this showed fine but not as great as I'd guess some would. (1727 views) | | | Tasted by Topper on 5/16/2021 & rated 92 points: Amazing that this is so alive. Very pale color, almost rose. Started off alive but light and fragile tasting but gradually gained strength over an hour or two. Remarkable for a wine so old (1966 views) | | | Tasted by khybner on 10/24/2020 & rated 95 points: Topp bottle. Still tannins left despite the age. (2296 views) | | | Tasted by mark2eye on 2/19/2020 & rated 92 points: fig and raisin on the entry. Picked up some tannin and grit with air time and even a little red fruit. Enjoyable but past its peak (3217 views) | | | Tasted by Warren23 on 12/7/2019 & rated 91 points: Not great value for the price. Having said that, it’s got a beautiful, complex nose. Still good fruit, with very good balance and long finish, with notes of leather, tobacco, menthol and dark cherry. (3054 views) | | | Tasted by cortoncharlie on 10/22/2019: The bottle and level looked like it was in good shape. But inevitably it was another crappy bottle of tired old Italian. We tried hard to find some merit to this but it was like convincing yourself some good comes out of a broken leg. Note to myself: please don't get suckered into buying these things any more.... (3245 views) | | | Tasted by Charlie Carnes on 8/12/2019: Original bottle, tons of sediment. Amazing aromas of rose, asphalt, and dried fertilizer. The wine was a little lean and tight in mouth at first. But it stretched out and put on weight and color. Dried cherries and tertiary traits. Still didn't hit the high notes. Other bottles have been better. This was the straw that caused my to buy a Durand, as the cork pushed through. (3310 views) | | | Tasted by ceadsearc on 6/29/2019 & rated 93 points: On the nose, a very classic truffles and soy sauce nose which is typical of a 64. On the palate, some caramel, candy, liquorice, and dried fruit - somewhat port like. Very usual for an old Barolo, and still lovely. (2627 views) | | | Tasted by oldwines on 5/3/2019 & rated 95 points: Shane’s 5th Annual Game Dinner - Themed “Cinghiale e Piemonte” (Shane and Dina’s Home in NJ/USA): Sourced recently from the winery’s cellar via Blacksmith Fine Wines in Cold Spring, NY. This was in impeccable condition with a perfect fill level. Upon decanting 3 hours prior to serving we marveled at the youthful color of the wine. It was served with a feral piglet chop along with the 1996 Scavino Rocche dell’ Annunziata. It had a dark garnet but slightly translucent color. Looked like a 10 year old Barolo! The nose was vibrant, spicy (both savory and baking spices) and floral at first, then became more fruit and earth driven with sous bois, smokey cherry, leather and chocolate. Evolved for the whole time in the glass which sadly was not vey long. Acidity was high but not as high as the ‘67 Damilano. Tannins mostly integrated but still providing some structure to an otherwise velvety soft wine. Rich with vanilla, baking spices, cherry fruit and all the earthy elements from the nose. Finish was long (45+ seconds). Beautifully balanced, perfectly aged, mature Barolo that neither looks nor tastes as old as it is. Just a beauty... but a hair less interesting than the Scavino when it came to the food pairing. The Scavino had more pop and exposed different flavors with the food more so than this bottle. Although I tend to prefer these older wines I found myself surprised I preferred the younger one noting that there was not a consensus on this. This may have needed a longer decant... (3239 views) | | | Tasted by Eric Guido on 2/15/2019 & rated 92 points: The nose was fully mature, in its expression of dark earth, minerals, dusty dried florals and sous bois. On the palate, I found soft textures with a sweet and sour acid tinge, as notes of dried cherry, hints of clove, leather and inner earth tones developed. The finish was medium in length, resonating on earthy minerals with residual dried floral tones. Some may say this is over the hill, but I would drink it any day. (3187 views) | | | Tasted by dcwino on 11/24/2018 & rated 92 points: Barolo gathering at Officina (Officina - Washington D.C.): Pale fading red with cloudy middle. Remnants of red fruit, cherry water, caramel, leather, cedar, rose, beeswax, black truffle, a hint va and earth. Fully integrated fragile palate, shy cherry water, soft and warm, subtle acidity and mineral, no noticeable tannins and a medium long subtle red fruit driven finish with a hint of VA at the end. I am relatively confident that this is the correct example. Consistent notes. Caveat emptor! (3232 views) | | | Tasted by acyso on 11/17/2018 & rated 90 points: Nebbiolos, white truffles, Volume III (Chicago, IL): Slow-oxidized in the morning and double decanted a few hours before service. Can't help but notice the slight oxidation on the palate, showing a mild mushroomy thing. But otherwise there's really some good stuff going on here, with a slight vegetal quality on the palate as well. Clearly tertiary, with the fruit still hanging on, but truthfully, this is a wine close to the end of its useful life. (3527 views) | | | Tasted by SteveHyde on 9/16/2018 & rated 89 points: Tired but showing its pedigree. Pale ruby-brick color, lovely nose of fruit and tar, soft mouthful, orange peel, spice, a bit of iron. Do not hold. Drink up. (2391 views) | | | Tasted by ledwards on 8/18/2018 & rated 90 points: Very light red with orange hues, appears diluted but all of the material is simply in the bottom of the bottle. Strangely fairly fresh and acidic with notes of mature strawberries, honey and damp forest. This bottle was good but not compelling. (2424 views) | | | Tasted by Ramberg on 4/10/2018 & rated 94 points: Beautiful mature Barolo nose.
Filled with layers of herbs, licorice, tar, orange peel, tobacco leafs, sweet red berries, truffles and sous – bois.
A touch of forest fire too, with some more tar and leather.
Sweet fine strawberries on the palate, with licorice, orange, tar, truffles and earth.
Very complex, long and surprisingly alive and fresh.
Good acidity and lively fruits.
A perfect bottle, drinking at peak, but will stay there for quite a few more years I would say. (1548 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, Jul/Aug 2014, Issue #52, A Slew of Barolo and Barbaresco Vertical Reports For Too Much of a Good, Old Thing Is Never Enough
(Barolo- Giacomo Conterno) Login and sign up and see review text. | By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, Sep/Oct 2010, Issue #29, Handicapping the 1958, 1964 and 1971 Vintages in Barolo and Barbaresco- Patience in Piemonte Has Such Fine Rewards
(Barolo- Giacomo Conterno) Login and sign up and see review text. | By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, Sep/Oct 2010, Issue #29, Handicapping the 1958, 1964 and 1971 Vintages in Barolo and Barbaresco- Patience in Piemonte Has Such Fine Rewards
(Barolo- Giacomo Conterno) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, 9th Annual Wine Dinner and Auction to Benefit The Mount Sinai Hospital (Feb 2012)
(Giacomo Conterno Barolo) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, Sep/Oct 2008, Issue #17, Cantine Giacomo Conterno: Piemonte Pillar of Excellence and Tradition
(Barolo- Giacomo Conterno) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Barolos of the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s (Dec 2004)
(Giacomo Conterno Barolo) Subscribe to see review text. | By John Gilman
View From the Cellar, Bonus Articles, Piemonte (tasted 2002-03)
(Barolo- Giacomo Conterno) Login and sign up and see review text. | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (10/6/2013)
(Giacomo Conterno Barolo) Bricked light medium red orange color with light orange meniscus; mature, dates, walnut, VA, autumnal leaves nose; tasty, poised, ripe dates, walnut, ginger cake palate with grip; long finish 96+ points 96 points | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (3/20/2011)
(Giacomo Conterno Barolo) Bricked light medium orange color with 10 millimeter clear meniscus; subtle roses, light beef jus nose with lovely, subtle mushroom notes underneath; tasty, poised, dried berry, roses, venison jus palate, very sexy; long finish 97+ points 97 points | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (1/19/2011)
(Giacomo Conterno Barolo) Bricked light medium red color with ruby lights and clear meniscus; gorgeous, tar, dried roses, dried cherry, rosewood, autumnal nose; tasty, rich, caramel, dried roses, dried berry, roses, youthful palate, with grip; long finish 95 points | By Richard Jennings
RJonWine.com (12/5/2008)
(Giacomo Conterno Barolo) Light pale red color with clear meniscus; great, lavender, truffle and lamb jus nose; fabulous, earthy, refined, iron, smoke and memories of lamb jus palate; medium-plus finish 97 points | By Lyle Fass
Rockss and Fruit (10/29/2007)
(Giacomo Conterno Barolo) This was perfect wine. Drinking at full expressiveness. Nose of dried rose petals, cherry, strawberry, truffle and leather. Palate was supple and rich with red fruits, smoke, minerals and completely resolved tannins. Very juicy and soft and truly achingly elegant. The fruit was beautiful and pure. Just magic. | By Lyle Fass
Rockss and Fruit (3/22/2006)
(Giacomo Conterno Barolo) A mindboggling nose. Mesquite bbq sauce, dark flowers, spice (cloves, etc), and woodsmoke. Like a carpenter's shop in a Piedmont wine cellar. If that makes any sense. This was just so aromatic I smelled it for 10 minutes before I had a sip. Again with a super-supple texture and great purity the fruit was so sweet and the concentration was so intense this wine was singing. Easily the youngest so far of the old wines with just fantastic snap and length. It is amazing how complete these wines are especially once they have age. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of View From the Cellar and Vinous and RJonWine.com and Rockss and Fruit. (manage subscription channels) |
| Giacomo Conterno Producer website
Ken Vastola's fabulous guide to G. Conterno labels
Praelum: “Arguably the King of Barolo. No wine journey is complete without the tasting of one of the great Conternos. ‘Only premium quality can bring prestige to the Langhe.’ Giovanni Conterno taught his two sons Giacomo and Roberto after World War I to ferment and age wines in Bottis with prolonged maceration and ageing. The brothers split in 1969 and Giacomo started investing in his own vineyards since 1974. The wines of Cascina Francia, Monfortino and recently, Ceretta from Serralunga d’Alba are amongst the finest expressions of Nebbiolo that the wine world has ever seen. 4-6 years ageing usually.”NebbioloNebbiolo is a red grape indigenous to the Piedmont region of Italy in the Northwest. The grape can also be found in other parts of the world, though they are not as respected.
Nebbiolo is often considered the "king of red wines," as it is the grape of the famed wines of Barolo DOCG, Barbaresco DOCG, and Roero DOCG. It is known for high tannins and acidity, but with a distinct finesse. When grown on clay, Nebbiolo can be very powerful, tannic, and require long aging periods to reach its full potential. When grown on sand, the grape exhibits a more approachable body with more elegant fruit and less tannins, but still has high aging potential.
"Nebbiolo" is named for the Italian word, "nebbia", which means "fog", in Italian and rightfully so since there is generally a lot of fog in the foothills of Piedmont during harvest.
Nebbiolo is a late-ripening variety that does best in a continental climate that boasts moderate summers and long autumns. In Piedmont, Nebbiolo is normally harvested in October.
More links:
Varietal character (Appellation America) | Nebbiolo on CellarTrackerItaly Italian Wines (ItalianMade.com, The Italian Trade Commission) | Italian Wine Guide on the WineDoctorPiedmont Vignaioli Piemontesi (Italian only)
On weinlagen-infoLanghe Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Roero | Union of Producers of Albese Wines (Albeisa)BaroloRegional History:
The wines of Piedmont are noted as far back as Pliny's Natural History. Due to geographic and political isolation, Piedmont was without a natural port for most of its history, which made exportation treacherous and expensive. This left the Piedmontese with little incentive to expand production. Sixteenth-century records show a mere 14% of the Bassa Langa under vine -- most of that low-lying and farmed polyculturally. In the nineteenth century the Marchesa Falletti, a frenchwoman by birth, brought eonologist Louis Oudart from Champagne to create the first dry wines in Piemonte. Along with work in experimental vineyards at Castello Grinzane conducted by Camilo Cavour -- later Conte di Cavour, leader of the Risorgimento and first Prime Minister of Italy -- this was the birth of modern wine in the Piedmont. At the heart of the region and her reputation are Alba and the Langhe Hills. This series of weathered outcroppings south of the Tanaro River is of maritime origin and composed mainly of limestone, sand and clay, known as terra bianca. In these soils -located mainly around the towns of Barolo and Barbaresco -- the ancient allobrogica, now Nebbiolo, achieves its renowned fineness and power.
map of Barolo DOCG
An interesting thread on Traditional vs. Modern Barolo producers:
https://www.wineberserkers.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=106291 |
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