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2012 Giacomo Conterno Barolo CerrettaNebbiolo from Italy

$195.00

List Price: $249.99

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"The ultimate and purest expression of Barolo can be found in bottles bearing the Giacomo Conterno name. In fact, they represent the ideal of traditional Barolo: rich, powerful...

  • 97 James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com
  • 96 Wine Spectator
  • 94+ Antonio Galloni - Vinous
  • 94 Monica Larner - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
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About

Ratings:

97

"Perfumed aromas of grape skin and roses. Medium to full body, super classic and refined. Incredible finesse and length. It is so fine and gorgeous. Makes you want to drink it. Better in 2020 but so beautiful now."

96 Wine Spectator

"A wealth of cherry flavor is surrounded by cut grass, tar, tobacco and iron notes in this complex, intense red. There's plenty of tension, with a long aftertaste of licorice, tar and mineral. Balanced yet austere, this needs time to integrate fully. Best from 2023 through 2042. 60 cases imported."

94+ Antonio Galloni - Vinous

"Today the tannins are searing and large-grained, a characteristic this wine did not show from barrel. The clay-rich soils in Cerretta tend to give a broader style of Barolo compared to Francia, where limestone is prevalent, and that is very much what comes through today. Hints of dark red cherry, plum, smoke, leather, tobacco and licorice struggle to emerge from a wall of tannin. Today, the Cerretta is a brute, with little of the perfume and finesse it showed in cask. Readers will have to be patient. The only question is how much.”

94 Monica Larner - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"The 2012 Barolo Cerretta opens to a profound and buoyant bouquet that is particularly driven by menthol freshness, as well as pretty nuances of balsam herb and forest fruit with licorice, tilled earth and truffle. The wine is balanced and ethereal. It's so difficult to achieve this level of aromatic definition (especially in a warm year like 2012), but Roberto Conterno has done so with a deft hand. This is a complete expression of Barolo with aromatic intensity that is matched by an enduring sense of structure and medium-weight appeal."

Product Description:

"The ultimate and purest expression of Barolo can be found in bottles bearing the Giacomo Conterno name. In fact, they represent the ideal of traditional Barolo: rich, powerful, massively structured, and capable of long aging in bottle.

These majestic wines descend from a colossal legacy, spanning three generations of Conternos: Giacomo, Giovanni, and Roberto—in each case, the torch passing from father to son. Both Giovanni, who forged a reputation as the greatest of all Barolo producers, and now his gifted son, Roberto, have continued the important work of patriarch Giacomo.

Roberto Conterno is quick to tell us that the wines he makes belong to his father and grandfather. Yet his era may prove to be the most exciting. After all, Roberto benefits from the wisdom of both Giacomo and Giovanni. And Roberto has shown that he shares not only their genius, but also their devotion to tradition and history. The First Important Barolo

The Conterno crown jewel, Monfortino, is not only arguably the greatest Barolo; it was also the very first Barolo made in what has come to be known as the classic style. At the time that Roberto Conterno’s grandfather Giacomo served in World War I, Barolo was generally sold in either cask or demijohn, meant for early drinking. But in 1920, when Giacomo returned from the war, he decided to create a Barolo with immense aging potential. That wine became known as Monfortino.

Over the next 54 years, Giacomo—and then his son Giovanni—made not only Monfortino, but also Barolo and Barolo Riserva. Each wine was made in much the same way, from purchased grapes, the main distinction being fermentation technique and time in cask.

During the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s, the Conternos could produce their epic Barolos by relying on small, independent farmers who worked their old, low-yielding vines. But by the 1970s, those farmers began increasingly to make their own wines. Threatened with the loss of their fruit sources, Giovanni acquired Serralunga’s great Cascina Francia vineyard. With its fabulous exposure, and predominately calcareous soil, the site was perfect for the powerful Conterno style, and soon Cascina Francia became the sole source of their wines.

Ceretta:
In 2008, Roberto purchased a prime three-hectare section of Ceretta, the famed cru in Serralunga. This was only the second time in the cantina’s history that the family had purchased vineyard land. But Serralunga is a terroir that Roberto knows intimately, as it the home of Cascina Francia. Beginning in the 2008 vintage, Roberto has made both Nebbiolo d’Alba and Barbera d’Alba from Ceretta. But in the future, we can look forward to Barolo Ceretta as well." -Importer

Product Detail

Item # 99159
Country Italy
Region Piedmont
Sub-Region Barolo
Ratings

97 - James Suckling - Jamessuckling.com

96 - Wine Spectator

94+ - Antonio Galloni - Vinous

94 - Monica Larner - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Vintage 2012
Color Red
ABV 14.5%
Varietal(s) Nebbiolo
Size 750mL
Closure Cork
Features
Taste blackberry, cherry, smoke and earth
Nose truffle, cherry, plum, leather and vanilla