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Who Likes This Wine(12)

  1. NostraBacchus

    NostraBacchus

    3,881 Tasting Notes

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    Kemo Sabe

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    Rani

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Community Tasting Notes (45) Avg Score: 92.8 points

  • Piemonte at Madison Park How to Cook a Wolf (Seattle, WA, USA): Mmm, deep, dusky. Oh heck yeah Barolo! Smoky strawberry, really nice structure, great acid, fresh and vibrant.

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  • this had structure in the way for the first four hours for sure... then started to mellow out and was best when drinking the last glass (maybe 7-8 hours after first decant... still quite structured but given the reveal over the decant / drink time it clearly has body underlying... I felt the '78 Borgogno Barolo Riserva was a better drink on this night but got some push back on that from my kids (who are in their 20's but have decent wine experience cuz their dad is a habitual wino)

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  • Tight upon opening. Sat in the decanter 3 hrs and then leisurely consumed over the next 2.5 hrs. Perfect cork, perfect fill level, bottle in magnificent condition. Wine with just the tiniest blush of bricking, otherwise a rich translucent healthy ruby. Look just as a 25+ yr old Barolo should.

    The nose is quite earthy, dark, more brooding than I'd expect. Much more tar than roses. It's very complex, with smells of leather, freshly turned earth, and hay, along with some background aromas of potpourri and black cherries. There is good amount of acidity in the mouth, as well as a moderate degree of smooth, but present, tannins. Again, the tar flavors are more prominent than the fruit, though both are present. Florals are in the background. Tar>Cherries>Roses. Finish is quite long and emphasizes a bitter medicinal note that is actually kind of nice; that particular note being reminiscent of a digestif type bitterness. Not uncommon among some Italian reds.

    The bitterness becomes more prominent, and the fruits fade, as the wine sits in the decanter. For me, the sweet spot was just around 4 hrs in a wide decanter, after that, the wine heads downhill.

    I'm a very big fan of nebbiolo, and I was very very excited to try this. I've had many nebbiolo-based wines, but this is the highest pedigree I've tried thus far. Admittedly, my expectations were through the roof, and while this was very good, it ultimately didn't quite live up. To me, it was a bit blocky, a bit lacking in fruit, just didn't have that je ne sais quoi of the very best of the best. Very good, and I'd be happy to drink it any day of the week, though probably not at the current price tag unless I have some unexpected financial windfall. Glad to have had it once.

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  • This starts with a really complex nose with a piney, varnished wood component with other savory leather and dry herb notes. Hints of dried roses and dark red fruits, both pitted and with seeds. To me, the savory and earthy notes that the wine is showing perfectly complements the fruit which is the mark of a mature wine in plateau. It will certainly get more tertiary and had an older profile than the Roddolo. With time in the glass, the fine grained and slightly ferrous tannins show themselves but are whisked away with a bite of food. I have one bottle left that I'll probably drink by 2025. This was double decanted 3.5 hours prior to drinking.

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  • 10th of 12, decanted 80 minutes, perfect cork and level, as bottle noted in July 16, very special with years of interesting development ahead. VF (18.5).

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Vintage Tastings

  • By John Kapon
    Los Angeles Quarterly, 10/12/2005

    (G. Conterno Barolo 'Cascina Francia Riserva.') Login and sign up and see review text.

Vinous

  • By Stephen Tanzer
    January/February 2000, IWC Issue #88, (See more on Vinous...)

    (Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia) Login and sign up and see review text.

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