Vinous Monfortino Dinner with Roberto Conterno; 2/1/2024-2/2/2024 (Legacy Records, NYC): Tasted again in this vertical after having a full bottle a few weeks ago, the ‘10 showed similarly. In my opinion, it was the best wine in the tasting and a perfect Barolo. Every time I have tasted this wine, it has been very expressive, and it is no crime to open a bottle now. I found pure red cherry fruit, fresh red floral tones, iron, leather, and roasted meats, a perfect combination in my view of dense fruit and savory characteristics. On the palate, it is full bodied, dense but very fresh with high acidity, and again, you get a perfect combination of sweet red fruit and floral notes and the savory iron, leather, and meat. Compared to the other recent vintages (2008, 2013-2015), I found the 2010 to have more savory complexity. It's less fruit forward, but doesn't lack fruit.
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2010 Barolo Tasting; 1/14/2024-1/15/2024: The ‘10 Monfortino is to me a perfect wine - while it will get better in time, it’s already explosive, so powerful but so finessed, a perfect balance of rich, sweet fruit and savory complexity. Of all of the Barolo that I’ve tasted, the only wine that quite hits the same high is the ‘04 Monfortino, and down the road it’ll be great to taste the two together.
The nose was immediately intensely perfumed, starting out quite primary but developing a bit more savory complexity with time. I found pure red cherry fruit, red roses, leather, iron, roast meats, and a number of savory aromatics too complex to put properly in words. It’s so perfectly balanced and cohesive, a perfect blend of primary fruit and tertiary complexity.
On the palate, it is a massive wine, significantly bigger in stature than any of the other ‘10s tasted alongside it. I found a similar flavor profile to the palate, with a mix of pure red cherry fruit and red florals and a host of savory notes like iron, roast meats, and leather. The wine has a ton of tannin, but the tannins are super fine grained and the wine is so massive, that the tannins are almost hidden under the fruit. Acidity is high, giving great freshness to the wine.
Next to the ‘10 Conterno Francia, the Monfortino is in another league. It was more expressive, more complex with a bunch of savory nuance the Francia did not have, more concentrated, and also more finessed with more refined tannins.
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Served sort of blind, or informed blind if we can say we we both went for Barolo. No points here though. The wine at 12years old ( and undoubtedly young) is still every bit as beautiful and charming with a proper expressive nose so soft cherry, lightest smoky/tarry feel and spice. Its young though and albeit beautiful one cannot but dream of the wine this will one day be. Could this one day be a perfect wine , very much so but we rate wrt the moment and thus this is a 96-97. Patience will be rewarded.
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The 2010 Monfortino is a Barolo of heroic proportions in every way. Despite its youth, the nose is intensely perfumed. The aromatics are cool in tone and suggest great depth and power, emphasizing savory, cool tones more so than fruit - not that it lacks in fruit. I found sweet red cherries, dried roses, tobacco, iron, and tar, all woven together in a very cohesive package. On the palate, the wine is simultaneously massive and yet incredibly finessed. A mass of dark red cherry fruit, tobacco, tar, iron, fresh herbs, and inner floral tones sweep across the palate, and there is almost a sense of thickness due to the sheer concentration. But then there is almost no perception of tannins at all, and the red fruit shows a beautiful sweetness. It's all effortless.
The 2010 Monfortino seems destined to be a perfect Barolo. It's massive, savory and cool in tone, and yet drinks with an ease that's hard to believe, with incredibly finessed tannins. The flavor profile is textbook Nebbiolo, just with everything dialed up a few notches.
I also tasted the '10 Francia recently. In comparison, the '10 Monfortino is both denser but also more finessed, and I also found the '10 Monfortino more open aromatically than the Francia. The Monfortino also showed more depth including savory tones the Francia did not. While there's clearly some similarities in the core flavor profile, I think the Monfortino is at least several notches superior in 2010.
2010, Barolo Riserva ‚Monfortino‘, Giacomo Conterno, Serralunga d’Alba, Piemont, Italien. Kräftiges Rubin, etwas dunkler in der Farbe als der Cerretta. Die Nase ist schlicht umwerfend. Neben dem ganzen Blumen-Programm, das auch beim Cerretta wahrnehmbar war, kommen da weitere Aromen dazu, die von Pflaumen über Stein, Rauch, Oliven bis hin zu Lakritze und schwarzer Schokolade reichen. Kein Element überwiegt, alles ist präsent und spielt souverän seine Rolle im Duftbild. Im Gaumen ein Monument, noch sehr jugendlich, nach zirka zwei Stunden Luft im Dekanter aber erstaunlich gut zugänglich. Druckvoll, kräftig, dicht und dabei sowas von elegant, mir fehlen einfach die Worte. Die Tannine sind von höchster Güte, die Säure belebt, die Frucht ist auf den Punkt gereift, alles ist an seinem Platz. Im Abgang mit nicht enden wollender Länge. Hervorragend! Ich durfte in meinem Leben erst rund eine Hand voll Monfortinos probieren, doch dieser 2010er stellt die bisher probierten Jahrgänge (darunter war auch ein 1990er) allesamt in den Schatten. Das ist zweifelsohne Barolo-Perfektion, ich ziehe meinen Hut. Jetzt (lange dekantieren) besser ab 2025-2050+, 20 vvPunkte (100/100). vvWine.ch
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A quartet of Monfortino tonight (1971, 1997, 2001, 2010). All were in great shape, and all were very, very good. For me the surprising standout, given it's youth, was the young 2010 (decanted seven hours). Just a baby but it's drinking amazingly well. A fantastic nose on opening, and a sweetness on the palate that belied it's power. Simply outstanding. One of our group of four literally fell in love with the 2001 (decanted five hours), and I understood why. It was beguiling, and improved the most over the three hour dinner. I've been less excited about 1997 Barolos over time than others. And this perfect provenance magnum of 1997 Monfortino was very good, but for me just not as exciting as the other three. The 1971 was terrific, and easily could be called too young. A fine representation of Monfortinos, and a very enjoyable flight.
GRANDI NEBBIOLI DA VINOGODI: Naso da mallo di noce, scuro, concentrato, tanto sul frutto. Profondo e tridimensionale, ma non pesante. C' è tanta dolcezza e maturità di frutto, il corpo è mastodontico e completamente opposto alla leggerezza e all' eleganza del 2008. Ricorda molto il 2006 appena uscito, tanta estrazione, caramello, legno fumé e tannino amaro, fittissimo, quasi compresso. L' acidità è meno sensibile, perchè nascosta da strati di frutto. Ricorda un Grand Cru di Claude Dugat e al momento è veramente di difficile lettura. Il naso è già da grande vino, la bocca chi lo sa.... tra 20 anni.....Se cercate eleganza, lasciate perdere....
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Impressive wine. Very aromatic and spicy, fullbodied with a huge backbone, but at the same time balanced and beautiful. Very complex, balsamic, meat, game, olives, caramel, minerals. Great length.
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Aromas were fantastic.Gorgeous spice notes combined with sweet currant, cherry, & cranberry. Its palate was edgy and tart. Lovely flavors of tart cherry, cranberries, earth, stone, & plum. Such a young wine, so we were just scratching the surface here, but there's a lot of potential and class here. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to try another bottle of this sometime int he future.
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A wine that left me nearly speechless the two times I have been fortunate to taste it.
Huge cherry, perfume, roses, and tar in front of a wall of minerality. Massively structured and very deep but much more perfumed and Balanced than the '13. An impossibly deep, structured vertical wine. A monument to nebbiolo. There is still the ferrous and tar game meaty notes of the 13 but c much more perfume and back end balsam. Huge inner mouth perfume. Very long or rather nearly endless. Outrageously good. One of the greatest if not the greatest young wine I have ever had. Stunning. In the handful of wines I have ever given 100 points, there is a commonality, in that there is no internal discussion. You just realize you are in the presence of perfect.
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2016 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly, Alan and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/3/2016-11/12/2016 (Villa D’este, Lake Como, Piedmont, Milan and Frankfurt): Although I have been criticized for it, I still love finding young wines that are perfect for my palate. There are only a dozen also but ’94 Harlan, 00 Petrus, 05 La Tache, 05 Mugnier Musigny, 09 Lafite and 10 VCC made the list. These are very emotional and spiritually uplifting experiences. Now I can add the 10 Monfortino to that list. Incredibly refined and perfectly harmonious nose displaying perfectly ripe delicate red fruit, sweet spices and iron. Perfect palate that reminds me of a great Musigny, detailed, incredibly layered, seamless, vibrant and harmonious. The only difference is the mineral/iron that resonates. Iron fist and velvet glove, power and grace. Perfect in every way.
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Well that smells wonderful from a Bordeaux Zalto. They made '07, '09, '11 and '12 vintages. Or rather they were going to make '12 and it was teh best barrel but just recently Roberto decided it would not be good enough to be a Montfortino (as an aside Roberto and I note that this very much increases the regular Barolos complexity). So the wine got blended back in about three months ago. So the Cascina Francia has all the Montfortino in '12. Roberto continues - no Monfortino means great Cascina Francia.
There are certain areas in the vineyard where Montfortino happens more often but there is no golden rule. Every year there is a selection and preparation for Montfortino but then a choice during aging is made and it may get blended away.
To the wine its self, what great elegance and finesse.
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Visit to Giacomo Conterno: The are two 45 HL Bottis of this wine. How do you describe a truly great wine? On bouquet, there is immediately several extra dimensions compared with the very good wines before it. A multi-layered, complex, detailed bouquet. A symphony of different red and black berry aromas, florals and spices. Immediately, in the mouth, you recognise you are tasting a special wine. Very intense with multiple layers and dimensions of flavour unfolding. It put me in mind of the experience of drinking a great Burgundy like a Musigny or a top Chave Hermitage. G Conterno was my twentieth winery visited in Burgundy and Piemonte on this trip. Having tasted hundreds of wines, including many Grand Cru Burgundies and top Barolos, I wrote in my book 'The greatest wine of the trip'. Probably to be released in the next year or so, said Roberto. (99-100)
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2/2/2024 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 100 Points
Vinous Monfortino Dinner with Roberto Conterno; 2/1/2024-2/2/2024 (Legacy Records, NYC): Tasted again in this vertical after having a full bottle a few weeks ago, the ‘10 showed similarly. In my opinion, it was the best wine in the tasting and a perfect Barolo. Every time I have tasted this wine, it has been very expressive, and it is no crime to open a bottle now. I found pure red cherry fruit, fresh red floral tones, iron, leather, and roasted meats, a perfect combination in my view of dense fruit and savory characteristics. On the palate, it is full bodied, dense but very fresh with high acidity, and again, you get a perfect combination of sweet red fruit and floral notes and the savory iron, leather, and meat. Compared to the other recent vintages (2008, 2013-2015), I found the 2010 to have more savory complexity. It's less fruit forward, but doesn't lack fruit.
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1/14/2024 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 100 Points
2010 Barolo Tasting; 1/14/2024-1/15/2024: The ‘10 Monfortino is to me a perfect wine - while it will get better in time, it’s already explosive, so powerful but so finessed, a perfect balance of rich, sweet fruit and savory complexity. Of all of the Barolo that I’ve tasted, the only wine that quite hits the same high is the ‘04 Monfortino, and down the road it’ll be great to taste the two together.
The nose was immediately intensely perfumed, starting out quite primary but developing a bit more savory complexity with time. I found pure red cherry fruit, red roses, leather, iron, roast meats, and a number of savory aromatics too complex to put properly in words. It’s so perfectly balanced and cohesive, a perfect blend of primary fruit and tertiary complexity.
On the palate, it is a massive wine, significantly bigger in stature than any of the other ‘10s tasted alongside it. I found a similar flavor profile to the palate, with a mix of pure red cherry fruit and red florals and a host of savory notes like iron, roast meats, and leather. The wine has a ton of tannin, but the tannins are super fine grained and the wine is so massive, that the tannins are almost hidden under the fruit. Acidity is high, giving great freshness to the wine.
Next to the ‘10 Conterno Francia, the Monfortino is in another league. It was more expressive, more complex with a bunch of savory nuance the Francia did not have, more concentrated, and also more finessed with more refined tannins.
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2/19/2023 - Papies wrote: 97 Points
Served sort of blind, or informed blind if we can say we we both went for Barolo. No points here though.
The wine at 12years old ( and undoubtedly young) is still every bit as beautiful and charming with a proper expressive nose so soft cherry, lightest smoky/tarry feel and spice. Its young though and albeit beautiful one cannot but dream of the wine this will one day be. Could this one day be a perfect wine , very much so but we rate wrt the moment and thus this is a 96-97. Patience will be rewarded.
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9/5/2020 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 99 Points
The 2010 Monfortino is a Barolo of heroic proportions in every way. Despite its youth, the nose is intensely perfumed. The aromatics are cool in tone and suggest great depth and power, emphasizing savory, cool tones more so than fruit - not that it lacks in fruit. I found sweet red cherries, dried roses, tobacco, iron, and tar, all woven together in a very cohesive package. On the palate, the wine is simultaneously massive and yet incredibly finessed. A mass of dark red cherry fruit, tobacco, tar, iron, fresh herbs, and inner floral tones sweep across the palate, and there is almost a sense of thickness due to the sheer concentration. But then there is almost no perception of tannins at all, and the red fruit shows a beautiful sweetness. It's all effortless.
The 2010 Monfortino seems destined to be a perfect Barolo. It's massive, savory and cool in tone, and yet drinks with an ease that's hard to believe, with incredibly finessed tannins. The flavor profile is textbook Nebbiolo, just with everything dialed up a few notches.
I also tasted the '10 Francia recently. In comparison, the '10 Monfortino is both denser but also more finessed, and I also found the '10 Monfortino more open aromatically than the Francia. The Monfortino also showed more depth including savory tones the Francia did not. While there's clearly some similarities in the core flavor profile, I think the Monfortino is at least several notches superior in 2010.
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3/6/2020 - vvWine.ch Likes this wine: 100 Points
2010, Barolo Riserva ‚Monfortino‘, Giacomo Conterno, Serralunga d’Alba, Piemont, Italien. Kräftiges Rubin, etwas dunkler in der Farbe als der Cerretta. Die Nase ist schlicht umwerfend. Neben dem ganzen Blumen-Programm, das auch beim Cerretta wahrnehmbar war, kommen da weitere Aromen dazu, die von Pflaumen über Stein, Rauch, Oliven bis hin zu Lakritze und schwarzer Schokolade reichen. Kein Element überwiegt, alles ist präsent und spielt souverän seine Rolle im Duftbild. Im Gaumen ein Monument, noch sehr jugendlich, nach zirka zwei Stunden Luft im Dekanter aber erstaunlich gut zugänglich. Druckvoll, kräftig, dicht und dabei sowas von elegant, mir fehlen einfach die Worte. Die Tannine sind von höchster Güte, die Säure belebt, die Frucht ist auf den Punkt gereift, alles ist an seinem Platz. Im Abgang mit nicht enden wollender Länge. Hervorragend! Ich durfte in meinem Leben erst rund eine Hand voll Monfortinos probieren, doch dieser 2010er stellt die bisher probierten Jahrgänge (darunter war auch ein 1990er) allesamt in den Schatten. Das ist zweifelsohne Barolo-Perfektion, ich ziehe meinen Hut. Jetzt (lange dekantieren) besser ab 2025-2050+, 20 vvPunkte (100/100).
vvWine.ch
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3/31/2019 - tinybubbles Likes this wine: 97 Points
Primary but surprisingly approachable given the smooth tannins. Meld of soil notes, dark fruit and dark savory spices. Great raw material here. 97+
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1/7/2019 - BradE wrote:
A quartet of Monfortino tonight (1971, 1997, 2001, 2010). All were in great shape, and all were very, very good. For me the surprising standout, given it's youth, was the young 2010 (decanted seven hours). Just a baby but it's drinking amazingly well. A fantastic nose on opening, and a sweetness on the palate that belied it's power. Simply outstanding. One of our group of four literally fell in love with the 2001 (decanted five hours), and I understood why. It was beguiling, and improved the most over the three hour dinner. I've been less excited about 1997 Barolos over time than others. And this perfect provenance magnum of 1997 Monfortino was very good, but for me just not as exciting as the other three. The 1971 was terrific, and easily could be called too young. A fine representation of Monfortinos, and a very enjoyable flight.
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12/11/2017 - ralleceniw Likes this wine: 100 Points
Perfection, even at this relatively young stage. Has decades ahead of it and will stand along with some of the best Monfortino vintages ever.
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12/3/2017 - galenico wrote:
GRANDI NEBBIOLI DA VINOGODI: Naso da mallo di noce, scuro, concentrato, tanto sul frutto. Profondo e tridimensionale, ma non pesante.
C' è tanta dolcezza e maturità di frutto, il corpo è mastodontico e completamente opposto alla leggerezza e all' eleganza del 2008.
Ricorda molto il 2006 appena uscito, tanta estrazione, caramello, legno fumé e tannino amaro, fittissimo, quasi compresso. L' acidità è meno sensibile, perchè nascosta da strati di frutto.
Ricorda un Grand Cru di Claude Dugat e al momento è veramente di difficile lettura. Il naso è già da grande vino, la bocca chi lo sa.... tra 20 anni.....Se cercate eleganza, lasciate perdere....
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11/19/2017 - Burgaddict wrote:
Impressive wine. Very aromatic and spicy, fullbodied with a huge backbone, but at the same time balanced and beautiful. Very complex, balsamic, meat, game, olives, caramel, minerals. Great length.
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5/23/2017 - tooch wrote: 97 Points
Day 2 in Piedmont (Giacosa, Conterno, & Cavallotto) (Piedmont, Italy): From an unlabeled bottle at the winery...pop and pour.
Aromas were fantastic.Gorgeous spice notes combined with sweet currant, cherry, & cranberry. Its palate was edgy and tart. Lovely flavors of tart cherry, cranberries, earth, stone, & plum. Such a young wine, so we were just scratching the surface here, but there's a lot of potential and class here. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to try another bottle of this sometime int he future.
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5/12/2017 - cct wrote: 100 Points
At Giacomo Conterno with Stephanie and Roberto
A wine that left me nearly speechless the two times I have been fortunate to taste it.
Huge cherry, perfume, roses, and tar in front of a wall of minerality. Massively structured and very deep but much more perfumed and Balanced than the '13. An impossibly deep, structured vertical wine. A monument to nebbiolo. There is still the ferrous and tar game meaty notes of the 13 but c much more perfume and back end balsam. Huge inner mouth perfume. Very long or rather nearly endless. Outrageously good. One of the greatest if not the greatest young wine I have ever had. Stunning. In the handful of wines I have ever given 100 points, there is a commonality, in that there is no internal discussion. You just realize you are in the presence of perfect.
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11/8/2016 - dcwino wrote: 100 Points
2016 Villa d’Este Wine Symposium - Kelly, Alan and Kevin's excellent adventure; 11/3/2016-11/12/2016 (Villa D’este, Lake Como, Piedmont, Milan and Frankfurt): Although I have been criticized for it, I still love finding young wines that are perfect for my palate. There are only a dozen also but ’94 Harlan, 00 Petrus, 05 La Tache, 05 Mugnier Musigny, 09 Lafite and 10 VCC made the list. These are very emotional and spiritually uplifting experiences. Now I can add the 10 Monfortino to that list. Incredibly refined and perfectly harmonious nose displaying perfectly ripe delicate red fruit, sweet spices and iron. Perfect palate that reminds me of a great Musigny, detailed, incredibly layered, seamless, vibrant and harmonious. The only difference is the mineral/iron that resonates. Iron fist and velvet glove, power and grace. Perfect in every way.
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4/21/2016 - Ben Christiansen wrote:
Well that smells wonderful from a Bordeaux Zalto. They made '07, '09, '11 and '12 vintages. Or rather they were going to make '12 and it was teh best barrel but just recently Roberto decided it would not be good enough to be a Montfortino (as an aside Roberto and I note that this very much increases the regular Barolos complexity). So the wine got blended back in about three months ago. So the Cascina Francia has all the Montfortino in '12. Roberto continues - no Monfortino means great Cascina Francia.
There are certain areas in the vineyard where Montfortino happens more often but there is no golden rule. Every year there is a selection and preparation for Montfortino but then a choice during aging is made and it may get blended away.
To the wine its self, what great elegance and finesse.
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7/15/2015 - HowardNZ Likes this wine: 99 Points
Visit to Giacomo Conterno: The are two 45 HL Bottis of this wine. How do you describe a truly great wine? On bouquet, there is immediately several extra dimensions compared with the very good wines before it. A multi-layered, complex, detailed bouquet. A symphony of different red and black berry aromas, florals and spices. Immediately, in the mouth, you recognise you are tasting a special wine. Very intense with multiple layers and dimensions of flavour unfolding. It put me in mind of the experience of drinking a great Burgundy like a Musigny or a top Chave Hermitage. G Conterno was my twentieth winery visited in Burgundy and Piemonte on this trip. Having tasted hundreds of wines, including many Grand Cru Burgundies and top Barolos, I wrote in my book 'The greatest wine of the trip'. Probably to be released in the next year or so, said Roberto. (99-100)
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