1998 Conterno Fantino Barolo Vigna del Gris

Community Tasting Notes (6) Avg Score: 90.6 points

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  4/22/2015 - forceberry wrote: 87 Points

  A wine from the Conterno Fantino cellars sourced by Fabio Fantino in order to show how the modernist Baroli can age as well.
  
  Developed pomegranate color with some obvious orange-red bricking and a thin, colorless rim. A hint of deposit in the glass. Fascinating, developed and complex bouquet with a slightly sour overtone. Layered aromas of licorice, meat stock, candied dark cherry, some blackcurrant jam and a hint of mushrooms. Ripe, sweet and full-bodied palate with ample, firm tannins and moderately developed flavors of plummy and pruney fruit, some wizened cherries, a little sweet mocha oak and hints of dried figs. The mouthfeel is velvety soft and gentle with rather low acidity, giving the wine a bit dull character lacking energy. The finish is long and rich with moderately mouth-drying tannins, some alcohol warmth and developed flavors of smoke, wizened dark cherry, fig, some sweet cocoa, a little raisined pruney fruit and a hint of toasted wood.
  
  Well, apparently the modernist Baroli can at least survive for 15-20 years, although I'm not so sure about the development. Sure, the wine shows a lot of developed, wizened fruit character, making it more attractive and interesting than the young bottlings, but the pronounced, sweet modernist character is still very present with some obvious new oak characteristcs. It feels as though the wine just gets more aged fruit character, but no further complexity, and instead of shedding the baby fat, the wine becomes duller and flabbier as the structure softens up with age. So, with these modernist Baroli, it is a zero-sum game of sorts: you gain some, you lose some. Maybe these get a bit better with age, but not so much that I'd actually invest any of my money, time and cellar space on them.

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  2/14/2015 - Drexel wrote: flawed

  Corked

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  1/6/2015 - lepetitchateau wrote: 92 Points

  Despite the possibility of iffy storage, this had lovely Barolo character and real grit.

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  3/25/2014 - rh53w Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Great nose of cherries and red fruit. Waves of ludens cough drops, cherries, forest floor, and barnyard, and a long finish. Soft tannins (if a little dusty) and nice acidity - a really nice wine for the price. Drank this with raviolini al plin brought back from Piemonte; lovely.

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  10/2/2011 - Papies wrote:

  Annual Pilgrimage to Piedmont; 9/30/2011-10/2/2011 (Piedmont, Italy): Traditional Barolo. Had by e glass and it felt a bit oxidised, dry and maybe this was opened for a long time. Will reserve judgement for another time.

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