1974 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Monfortino Speciale

Community Tasting Notes (22) Avg Score: 93.6 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View osordal's profile
  • Report Issue

  12/17/2023 - osordal Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Quite ruby red with orange rim. Decanted prior to tasting. Intense dark fruit with great complexity, iron and mineral infused. Latour-like structure and great acidity, length and very vibrant for a 49 year old wine. Strickingly youthful. I ll leave my remaining bottles for 5-10years

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View dbkitc's profile
  • Report Issue

  3/28/2022 - dbkitc wrote: 93 Points

  (at Foraged - Baltimore) Floral, tobacco, blood orange - nose evolves by the minute - cinnamon. Nose is brilliant - 99 pointer. Palate is a bit of a disappointment - a little tired. (93)

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View evold89's profile
  • Report Issue

  9/30/2020 - evold89 Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Servicing:
  Not sure if I should aerate it from bottle or what. Big thanks to William Kelley that kindly provided me with sound advice. Although I preferably should have put this into a wine cradle days in advance. I did put it in the cradle, pulled the cork and let it breath for 1.5 hour, then I decanted it into a smaller carafe (old burgundy “duck” decanter) and left for another 2+ hours.
  
  Tasting note:
  The colour was ruby and radiant. No bricking or browning. No telltale signs of this wine’s age.
  
  The nose showed off beautiful aromatics. The first thing that came to mind was elegance. Perfumed, gracious and beautifully lifted. It was mature, sure, but the fruit was still surprisingly vibrant, clean and precise. I had difficulties separating out the different elements as it had lots of intertwined layers. Dark and red fruits together with some earthy and mineral infused aromas. Slightest touch of spice. To me this had a certain Grand Cru Burgundy elegance to it.
  
  On the palate, there was a really nice overall intensity and you can surely tell that this is a wine made for ageing. Also here the wine shows great intensity, but are yet so elegant. No dried fruits or anything that reminds me of this being at nearly 50 years of age. Really well balanced with a silky feel without being afraid of letting you know the power undertneath. Just a seamless experience and comparing this to the Cascina Francia this was two entirely different wines (notwithstanding the quality of the Cascina). Great length. This will surely withhold for ages, and I am not going to make a guess as to how long..but drinking beautifully now.
  
  Score: Bottles like this are made for pleasure and I tried not to get too caught up in scoring the wine. However, at the end we discussed and analysed a bit and ended up with a score of mid/high 90’s (95-97).
  This bottle gave me an unforgettable experience. Moments like this only a great wine can provide and you can’t put a score on these moments..
  Scored 95.
  
  Sidenote: The Cascina Francia 2001 did not have the same elegance to it. Also, I think proper servicing is key. As pointed out by William, ensure no sediment (which is why it is important to plan ahead) as this quickly ruins the fruit of the nebbiolo.

  1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View Nanda's profile
  • Report Issue

  11/2/2019 - Nanda wrote: 94 Points

  White Truffles & Nebbiolo (Chez Nanda): Birth year wine and a real treat to drink this right before my birthday. Double decanted ~10 hours prior to serving. Big boastful nose shows smoky and tar notes paired with still youthful black fruit. The palate is complex and has terrific dense texture. Should hold just fine for another 5-10 years.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View acyso's profile
  • Report Issue

  11/2/2019 - acyso wrote: 95 Points

  Nebbiolos, white truffles, Volume IV (Chicago, IL): Some were not as keen on this wine as I was, but I really did love the nose here. It was mature, sure, and shows a distinct balsamic note, but I thought that the black fruit was very clean and well-delineated. On the palate, this is even better. There's a really nice overall intensity here, and you can tell that this is a really dense wine. Certainly there are some mature flavours, but they serve to supplement the fruit here. I suppose what I'm saying is that this isn't yet fully mature, and that other bottles could afford to age some more.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

View all 22 Community Tasting Notes

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.