G. Conterno And The Future

There is a lively discussion on AG’s board regarding future vintages of G. Conterno’s Barolo. No Monfortino in 2012 which is not so unusual. But there will be no Francia in 2013 with only Monfortino being made. To the best of my knowledge, this only once occurred previously, in 2002 when severe selection of the fruit was required due to weather. Combined with some pretty Draconian price increases since the 2010 vintage, this will make their Barolo significantly more difficult to obtain for many. Are you still buying Francia and/or Monfortino and do you plan to continue to do so if prices continue to rise?

Yes, Yes, and Yes.

I’m definitely going to try and source a couple 2010 Monfortinos next year. I’ve already picked up the 2012 Francia. What pricing do you see for the 12 Francia? I’m comfortable with outlaying the ~$120 USD asking price from my supplier.

Winesearcher shows the average price of the 2011 Francia at $218 and the 2012 at $199 in the US. I’ve seen speculation that the 2013 Monfortino (no Francia made that year) could be as high as $900 in the US. Must be a lot of ballas buying Monfortino for whom money is not an issue

So I’ve been given some visibility into the thread you mentioned with your OP and I’ve got to say I’m confused as to what y’all are on about over there… Some comments below.

• According to that thread the 2010 Monfortino when released next year will be priced identically (ex cellar) to the 2008 release. So there’s no price increase so far from an ex cellar perspective between the 2008 and 2010 despite significant developments at G. Conterno (eg the purchase of the Arione vineyard).

• The 2013 Monfortino won’t be release for 4 years at a minimum. Maybe we can leave the release pricing discussion until then? I’ll even take a year before. But a lot can change in 4 years so I’m not going to sweat this “issue” yet.

• It seems fairly obvious that the “Draconian price increases” aren’t ex cellar but importer/distributor and retailer price increases. Am I meant to blame Roberto for that?

• Ken V chimed in that Marta and Beppe Rinaldi sees 30 euro for each bottle of Barolo they produce. And yet those wines increase in price nearly every vintage.

So it seems that the focus on G. Conterno in your OP is a bit off the mark. Maybe instead we should be discussing why some importers/distributors and retailers are taking the piss with their pricing increases despite paying near identical pricing year on year?

Early reports would indicate that the 2012 Conterno Francia Barolo is an exceptional wine. But at $200 a bottle, I wonder how many buyers of previous vintages will be purchasing.

Has no 2010 Monfortino been released yet?

It’s about 11 months away.

Mike- I find it funny they are only talking about Francia and Monfortino. He does have a 3rd Barolo (Ceretta) and a 4th on the way. I assume Ceretta will be made in 2012 and 2013.

Isn’t 2014 the vintage where there will be no Francia and only Monfortino?
2013 is going to be an excellent vintage in Barolo and I would see no reason not to produce the Francia.
2014 is going to be bad in general, but Roberto is going to make a miracle again, like in 2002, and produce only Monfortino. At least that was my understanding.

According to A.G., with any given vintage there are 3 casks from the Francia Vineyard. In 2010, 2 were dedicated for Monfortino and 1 for Francia. In 2011 and 2012 no Monfortino was made, so all went to Francia. With 2013, all 3 casks were usd for Monfortino. And he speculates that the same might be true in 2014.

I don’t think you can compare 2014 to 2002.

Not nothing anything about 2002, Cavallotto made no Barolo in 2014. It all went into the Langhe. I don’t know how everyone else fared.

He just did.

I have friends who recently tasted at G Conterno, including the proposed 2013 Monfortino that they said was spectacular. I understand that what Michael says is true. I’ve heard there will be only Monfortinos in '13 and '14, and no CFs, but there will be Cerrettas of course and an Arione (or something containing Arione fruit, however labeled) at some stage.

I’m surprised at G Conterno producing a 2014 Monfortino (and no CFs) when (for example) Cavallotto has declassified all of their potential Barolo fruit into (a very unconvincing) Langhe Nebbiolo and Vietti (at the time I visited in June) is actively considering which if any of its Cru to produce from 2014. However, I’m sure Roberto knows exactly what he’s doing …

[Posts crossed but I’ll post this any way].

There was some hail in Barolo, and there was some rain shortly before the barbera and dolcetto was harvested, but well ahead of the nebbiolo. I don’t know if Cavallotto was affected by the hail. And Barbaresco saw no hail. (The Produttori will bottle their single vineyards.)

When I was in the Langhe three months ago, no one was talking up the vintage, but neither were they painting a dire picture. And to my surprise, I tasted a number of quite good barberas and dolcettos, as well as some quite good Langhe Nebbiolo (e.g., Vajra and Fratelli Alessandria in Barolo and Cortese and Rizzi in Barbaresco). It was nothing like the dreary, wet summer of 2002 followed by bad hail that September.

How about the 2010 Le Rocche del Falletto?

Has that been released yet?

No, Giacosa Rocche Riserva has not been released yet

OK, that’s some news (about 2013). I did not visit Conterno recently, but about 2014 (no Francia) that is what I was told by people who had just been at Conterno last spring.
I am not sure I completely follow the logic of having only the Riserva made even in a year with a normal production and very good perhaps excellent quality overall.
In a bad year, that looks like a stroke of genius (it was in 2002), but in a good year…
No, it doesn’t sound good to me. It’s a move which has the potential of estranging many old customers.

I read a couple of days ago, that yes, they were badly hit by hail. I think from a recent trip report on Wine Pages.

The logic behind an all Monfortino vintage is simple: it’s the difference between a product approaching $1000 a bottle retail in the US vs a product at about $200 a bottle.

Why are Conterno & Giacosa holding back their 2010 flagship reserves for seven years?

I thought the law was [very roughly] four years for normale and five years for riserva?

Is 2010 really all that? [I guess the obvious answer would be, “Yep!”]

And then the other question would be: Who’s gonna be able to offer these wines at retail, and within how few minutes of the emails being sent will their entire allocations have been snatched up?