TN: 2003 Conterno Fantino Barolo Sorì Ginestra (Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo)

[k s h i n]

• 2003 Conterno Fantino Barolo Sorì Ginestra - Italy, Piedmont, Langhe, Barolo (3/23/2020)
  Clearly displaying the 03 overripe fruit, cherry, cherry liqueur, plum, dark spices, tar, oak/vanilla, anise, rare steak, and earth. Excellent concentration, packed overripe black fruit, chewy and rich, good acidity, earthy mineral, still very noticeable coarse tannins and a medium to long very ripe concentrated red fruit driven finish with licorice and dark spices at the end. It remains very tannic and masculine, perhaps due to new oak. Perhaps another decade of cellaring will lessen the ripe fruit and oak expression, and soften the tannins. (91 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

[Laurent Gibet]

Kevin,

I generally don't appreciate oaked nebbiolo (Sandrone, Voerzio, Prunotto, Aldo Conterno, ...).
Oak can sometimes soften the tannins ...
But, like for grenache, it mainly corrupts the typicity.

In 2001, I had a Contino-Fantino Sori Ginestra 1996, however able to accept oak (that was also the case for Parusso Bussia Vigna Rocche 1996 and La Spinetta Starderi Vursu 1997 (Barbaresco)).

Today, I clearly buy Burlotto, Bartolo Mascarello, Giuseppe Mascarello, Massolino, ...