TN: 1998 Giacomo Conterno Cascina Francia (Second bottle)

A got a bunch of these on closeout from Sam’s in Chicago many years ago when no one cared about Nebbiolo and have enjoyed them very much over the last fifteen years or so. I’d not had one in the last year or two. This one definitely showed more age than any other bottle. The cork was in remarkably good condition, so I do not consider that a factor. I decanted this for about six hours. Upon opening, it was very brown and musty smelling. If I had not known better, I’d have considered dumping it down the drain. Six hours later, it showed more promise. It remained an orange-brown with no trace of red to it. The nose was heavy with tertiary characteristics. My wife summed it up nicely – caramelized earth – meaning burnt brown sugar followed by forest floor. I agreed and then later got a surprising plant aroma that puzzled me a while. I finally decided it was yellow maple leaves in the fall, still clinging to the tree with a bit of life but definitely in decline. And that is just where this wine is now. It still has a bit of tannin left to it and a certain muscularity of Serralunga soil, but I can’t imagine any upside even if it can hold on for a while. And like any good Barolo, it is still holding its own after being opened for ten hours. Never give up on a Barolo! They’ll surprise you with their tenaciousness. I have three bottles left and will drink them in as many years’ time. I’ve always liked these overshadowed vintages (much like 1988 under 1989 or 1970 under 1971).

Thanks, Chris. I still have one bottle left from the same event–I believe when a distributor went under. Hard to believe a 98 is in serious decline, but also have seen similar notes elsewhere. Will have to try mine soon.

I checked this morning on CT - I have 15 TNs for this wine over the past decade, and while I do mention some bottle variation in a few of those notes, nothing that would indicate the wine is aging unexpectedly fast. FWIW, I have gotten bottle variation for both the Bartolo Mascarello and the Guiseppe Mascarello Monprivato in the '98 vintage as well.

I’ve got both the '98 & '99 currently stood up (along with their Monfortino counterparts) for a planned wine dinner later this Summer, so if I remember, I’ll come back and post some notes on how the wines showed.

John and Bob,

Thanks for your comments. I’ll remain hopeful that it was a bottle variation issue and that my remaining bottles will show well. I agree that a 23 year old Barolo should not be in such a state of decline even if 1998 was not a blockbuster vintage.

I opened one from the same source back in November and it was pretty close to peak, but it didn’t seem overly brown or musty. I thought it might hold nicely for a couple of years, but doubt it has the depth of fruit to improve much more.

I have one bottle each of the 05 and 06. What would be a good range of time to target those? I expect the 06 needs a lot longer but 05 might be into early maturity now?

That has to be a bad bottle. Mine have all been very good from same closeout.

All of mine up to this bottle have been very good also. This being the most recent bottle gave me pause, especially as all the bottles were stored together in proper conditions and the cork looked so good. It wasn’t bad - we drank the whole bottle and enjoyed it. It just seemed either much older or of lesser pedigree than a Conterno Cascina Francia Barolo. It is also interesting to note that there have been reports of other less than impressive bottles. I hope you are right and it was just a dud.

Rather than wonder about the first bottle for months or years, I decided to open a second bottle right way. It is amusing to see how many of us got this wine from Sam’s. Anyway, this bottle had an equally good cork and I decanted the it same as before. Upon opening, it was immediately obvious that this bottle was in much better shape. The color was still orange, but leaning towards red rather than brown. And the classic Barolo aroma leapt right out of the decanter. So, I had every reason to be optimistic six hours later upon tasting. The wine opened up even more in Grassl 1855 glasses with some dark fruits, leather, roasted nuts, and balsamic. I found the palate initially on the bitter side, such as burnt coffee, but that faded pretty quickly and rounded to a velvety texture. It is still pretty tannic and acidic leading to a very dry sensation without a lot of fruit showing. This bottle shows no sign of fading and I only wonder if perhaps there is not enough fruit left to ever balance out the tannins and acid. While not a hall of fame Barolo, it is still a really nice, classic expression. I’d probably give it a Grade B for lack of “wow factor.” What were these at close out? $40? Quite a great buy. Probably less so at original price. Based on this bottle, drink now to 5+ years hence. Conclusion: clearly my first bottle had some undetermined flaw. That was the first dud out of probably three cases. But it adds one to the anecdote of inconsistent bottles.

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to see some bottle variation in a wine 20+ years after the vintage. Like I mentioned above, I’ve also experienced underwhelming bottles of the Bartolo Mascarello and Guiseppe Mascarello Monprivato from ‘98 (and the Roagna Paje, now that I think about it).

About the only wine from that vintage I can think of where I haven’t had a bad bottle would be the Giacosa Falletto, and I will probably jinx myself for saying this.

Yes indeed. But I was sure glad to have another good bottle. From 1998, I had an excellent magnum of Scarzello that I bought from the producer and held until a few years ago.

FWIW, my bottles actually came from Zacchys, but I’m sure it was the same “event”, which I believe was a distributor or importer going under.

Chris,

I have not had either one, but if I only had one bottle each, I would starting thinking about the 2005 in 2025 and the 2006 in 2030. I’d guess the 2005 will be similar to the 1998 (hopefully, like my second bottle) in terms of being a very good rather than great vintage . Best of luck.

There was also a stylistic change at Conterno, IMO, starting in the early 2000s. I find the wines riper and slightly more modern than the earlier vintages.

When did you buy yours? I’m curious. I have a bottle from Zachy’s that I bought in 2003 for $67 – not really a close-out price in those days.

At Giacomo Conterno? The 2001 certainly was fleshy young, but I haven’t heard people say there was a style shift. Giovanni lived until 2004, but I think Roberto was largely in charge for some time before then.

Certainly, there was a big shift at Aldo Conterno around that time, as Aldo’s sons took a bigger role.

I think so, and I know some others who have much more experience with the wines who say they aren’t the way they used to be in the '80s and '90s. I visited in 2006 and it seemed the newer vintages at the time (both from bottle and barrel) were becoming a bit riper and juicier. Nothing too extreme, just a little more modern and polished than the older wines. But I can’t afford them anyway, so don’t listen to me…

Same here.

The barberas now cost what I paid for the '01 Barolo.

I also bought from this Sam’s closeout, was one of my earliest memorable wine scores! (Although really every bottle of Bordeaux I bought back 20 years ago was a “score” by today’s standards, but it didn’t feel like it at the time). I think they were $28 a bottle.

I wasn’t very experienced when I first got these and therefore drank them in the first couple of years after I got them, “too young”, at about 7-10 years old. Honestly, I remember them as being really, really good at that age – lots of rose petals and tar, quite accessible. Maybe a super early drinking vintage, although you don’t think of Conterno Barolo that way?

I would have to agree with you since I started drinking them right away too. I felt OK doing that since I bought several cases. But I never felt that they were too young to enjoy or lacking in good balance or character.