Granted, there is a dirth of discussion here about Barolo in general these days. But I’m seeing almost nothing about Aldo Conterno here or elsewhere. Additionally, it seems as though some retailers have much larger inventories of back vintages of this producer, than is typical of many others. Does anyone know what’s going on with the estate and have opinions of the wines currently being produced by them? Thanks.
Good question. I’m curious what other people have to say. You don’t see many posts on recent vintages from the estate.
Just for reference, here are a few recent threads on back vintages:
As you know, AG got dis-invited to the estate for tasting because he panned a recent vintage.
I don’t really buy current release Barolo any more because I’m getting longer in the tooth, but I’ve been pretty happy with the wines from 1999 to 2006 (haven’t tried any after that). Mid-1900’s were a real problem in my mind thru 1998 for reasons that I don’t understand (many wines oxidized and flawed). the distributor blow up a few years ago I suspect has caused lasting damage, as, after getting a bunch of wine for cheap, the wines now seem overly expensive.
Just had a 99 Cicala that I’ll post on one of these days that was very nice, although overshadowed by a few of the other wines.
Interesting question, as I’ve had two discussions with people about this recently. Their were massive changes made starting in 2002, when they sold off their Barolo in bulk for 2 years in a row (2002 and 2003). Then in 2004, they cut the winery total production from 200,000 bottles to 60,000 bottles. Granted, the wines are much better today than ever before, but they jumped up considerably in price at the same time. The issue is that you can buy Bartolo Mascarello, Giovanni Canonica, or Capellano for less than the single vineyard wines, so I’m not jumping up and down to buy Aldo Conterno.
Wow. Never heard that. What was that about? Since their physical plant was all there, that seems almost incomprehensible financially? Why cut revenue so if you have mostly fixed costs?
Did they ever acknowledge problems in the late 90s? I’m curious.
I was told the production slash was done to raise the quality to the highest level, which I think they did a very good job of doing. The wines are a lot better.
It never came up in conversation.
I suppose if they sell off the fruit that they otherwise would have made into wine, that would partly offset the reduced sales. But even if they did that and raised prices on the Barolos, it still seems like that would have to result in a massive drop in revenue.
More details on the recent developments at the estate can be found in the interview with Giacomo Conterno (son of Aldo) by Levi Dalton. It is a very interesting interview and he made a very good impression on me. He certainly made me curious to try his wines again.
I thought the production cutback was earlier than 2004, but don’t at the moment have access to information. there was also a surprisingly good article on the life of Aldo Conterno in Wine Spectator a few years ago that had some info about the changes they made over time. Also several old threads–some on the Tanzer Board which may no longer be available.
Giacomo told me the same (200k → 60k production cut) when we visited the winery 18 months ago. He said it was all about raising the quality. I believe it also coincided with their father passing the torch to the three brothers. I seem to recall that 2001 was the first vintage with the lower production, but could be wrong. As for the revenue impact, I suspect some of it was made up in price, some in selling off the bulk grapes, and the rest absorbed in their earnings. I don’t get the sense the family is hurting or trying to optimize earnings in the short run.
Separately, I really like the wines. I think Gran Bussia is a benchmark for the region. I buy routinely. Though more often it’s backfilling as I think current release prices are high and the wines can be had at auction for materially less than release prices.
I really enjoyed meeting and spending time with Giacamo. A colorful guy, for sure, and very knowledgable (and opinionated!) about Piemonte.
I still buy the wines, but not every vintage. Had a wonderful visit there a decade ago. Opened a 2000 Bussia last year that was singing. Have drunk a fair bit of teh '04 Barolo normale over the last couple of years which is delish. Hanging on to my Cicalas and Romariscos.
To add on to your comment, I’ve consistently liked Romirasco the best of the line up, and by a healthy margin too.
I more backfill than anything. There were some weird years. The old wines are sensational. I recently had the 82 Granbussia and it was other worldly. Haven’t had too much of the newer wines, though I did like a bottle of 2006 Romirasco that I tried. 89 Granbussia is eternal. The 90 is excellent but not up to the level of 82 or 89. Going back, 71 Granbussia is outrageously good too (I’ve only had the Colonello version).
And I agree about the lack of any decent discussion on Nebbiolo, its quite depressing for the greatest grape in the world!
K&L had a blow out on the wines five years ago with really low prices. I bought several cases and tried several bottles early to check on them. (there was talk that they were on sale because they were damaged, K&L I think would not do that) They were good so I’m sitting on the rest.
There’s plenty of discussion, though not perhaps as voluminous and acerbic as Bill Klapp provided. I’m certainly in no way depressed about the current volume of discussion. Nothing to stop you adding some threads yourself - a forum is what each of us make it.
I’ll have notes on 2012 Barolos next week.
I don’t see a paucity of threads on nebbiolo. Right now on the first page of Wine Talk there are this one and five others: on Vallana, Monprivato, the 1981 vintage, 99 Cordero di Montezemolo and 85 Produttori Asili.
I’ll echo Rich’s comments re the changes in production level. I visited the estate with Giacomo back in October 2015 (he is a delightful fellow; lovely to meet him) and a month or so before leaving for Europe had opened a bottle of the 2001 Aldo Conterno Barolo Cicala at a tasting of younger Barolo. It was mind-blowingly good and I remarked upon this to Giacomo. He mentioned precisely what Rich has reported; that this was the first year in which their harvest and production was reduced, in order to make better wines.
After a lead up wine in the form of their Barbera we tasted:
2011 Aldo Conterno Barolo Colonnello
2011 Aldo Conterno Barolo Cicala
2011 Adlo Conterno Barolo Romarisco
2006 Aldo Conterno Barolo Granbussia Riserva
The three Cru Barolos were fantastic wines, but the Granbussia 2006 was other worldly and utterly stunning.
The downside is that these wines are certainly at the high end of Barolo prices, and the Granbussia even more so, but they are very, very good wines.
I hit-up that sale, although – admittedly – I now regret not buying many more than I did. The '04 Romirasco is stupendous.