Barolo Flashcards
Aldo Conterno - Style
Brief Description of Style / Vinification Techniques: Aldo Conterno’s style is considered a middle ground between traditional and modern practices in Barolo. He does not employ the lengthy macerations of other traditionalists, but eschews the use of new oak.
Aldo Conterno - Commune
Monforte - Bussia Soprana Vineyard
Aldo Conterno - History
Aldo Conterno is the son of legendary Giacomo Conterno, though he left the family business to begin his own venture in 1969. His style is a departure from the traditional style of the Giacomo Conterno estate, as he incorporates both traditional and modern methods of vinification. Aldo Conterno farms 25 ha of vineyards in the famed Bussia Soprana vineyard in Monforte. His production is exclusively comprised of estate grown grapes. He isolates the best parcels within Bussia and produces separate bottling for each: Vigna Cicala, Vigna Romirasco, and Vigna Colonello. In the best years, he produces a selection from within each of these three parcels and calls it Granbussia.
Vigna Cicala
A. Conterno - SPECIES OF VINE: Nebbiolo, Michet and Lampia varieties.
VINEYARD: “Cicala” vineyard, in Bussia (Monforte d’Alba).
HARVEST: manual, with grapes selection in the vineyard.
TIME OF HARVEST: mid-October.
VINIFICATION: red, with skin contact inside stainless steel vats.
VINIFICATION TIME: the must stays on contact with the skins for 30 days: during this time the alcoholic fermentation gets fully complete.
VINIFICATION TEMPERATURES: changeable, with highest peaks of 32 degrees centigrades.
CELLAR REFINING: The new wine is decanted several times before transfer to oak casks where it is aged and refined.
NOTES: the vineyard “Cicala” [meaning: balm-cricket] is about 40-45 years old and the vines are replanted from time to time. The main variety of Nebbiolo is Lampia and its rootstock is Rupestris du Lot.
Colonnello
SPECIES OF VINE: Nebbiolo, Michet and Lampia varieties.
VINEYARD: “Colonnello” vineyard, in Bussia (Monforte d’Alba).
HARVEST: manual, with grapes selection in the vineyard.
TIME OF HARVEST: mid-October.
VINIFICATION: red, with skin contact inside stainless steel vats.
VINIFICATION TIME: the must stays on contact with the skins for 30 days: during this time the alcoholic fermentation gets fully complete.
VINIFICATION TEMPERATURES: changeable, with highest peaks of 32 degrees centigrades.
CELLAR REFINING: The new wine is decanted several times before transfer to oak casks where it is aged and refined.
NOTES: the vineyard “Colonnello” is about 40-45 years old and, to maintain it, the vines are replanted from time to time. The main variety of Nebbiolo is Michet and its rootstock is 420 A.
Michet Clone
Michet is more highly valued for the quality and concentration of the wine produced, a mutation of the Lampia with a viral infection that causes its canes to fork, and while this clone is a lower yielding, higher quality producer, it is particularly picky about the soil where it lives.
Lampia Clone
Lampia is the most popular and reliable
“GRANBUSSIA” BAROLO BUSSIA RISERVA D.O.C.G
PECIES OF VINE: Nebbiolo, Michet and Lampia varieties.
VINEYARD: Romirasco, Cicala and Colonnelo vineyards (Bussia - Monforte d’Alba).
HARVEST: manual, with grapes selection in the vineyard.
TIME OF HARVEST: mid-October.
VINIFICATION: red, with skin contact inside stainles steel vats.
VINIFICATION TIME: the must remains in contact with the skins for 30 days, during which the alcoholic fermentation is fully completed.
VINIFICATION TEMPERATURES: variable with maximum peaks of 32 degrees centigrade.
CELLAR REFINING: once removed the new wine remains in oak casks where it ages and refines.
NOTES: the Barolo Reserve Granbussia is produced by blending grapes from the oldest vines, from the Romirasco, Cicala, and Colonnello, before fermentation starts, in the following percentages respectively: 70% - 15% - 15%.
The Granbussia remains in the cellar for at least 9 years before commercialization. It is produced exclusively in the best years and in limited quantities.
“ROMIRASCO” BAROLO BUSSIA D.O.C.G.
SPECIES OF VINE: Nebbiolo, Michet and Lampia varieties.
VINEYARD: “Romirasco” vineyard, in Bussia (Monforte d’Alba)
HARVEST: manual, with grapes selection in the vineyard.
TIME OF HARVEST: mid-October.
VINIFICATION: red, with skin contact inside stainless steel vats.
VINIFICATION TIME: the must stays on contact with the skins for 30 days: during this time the alcoholic fermentation gets fully complete.
VINIFICATION TEMPERATURES: changeable, with highest peaks of 32 degrees centigrades.
CELLAR REFINING: The new wine is decanted several times before transfer to oak casks where it is aged and refined.
NOTES: the vineyard “Romirasco” is about 50-55 years old and the vines are replanted from time to time. The main variety of Nebbiolo is Lampia and its rootstock is Rupestris du Lot.
Fontanafredda - History
The history of Fontanafredda is a noble one. It began in 1858, when Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of Italy, purchased the Fontanafredda estate -a former hunting preserve- as a country home. Soon thereafter, he began to produce fine red wines from indigenous grape varieties dolcetto, barbera and nebbiolo. In 1878 King Vittorio II died and his firstborn son, Count Emanuele Alberto di Mirafiori, inherited Fontanafredda. Count Mirafiori created the commercial business of wine from the estate and released the estate’s first nebbiolo labeled as Barolo with the vintage 1878. Beginning in 1932, the estate transferred to Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world’s oldest bank, who retained ownership of Fontanafredda for 76 years.
GIACOMO MASCARELLO
Commune (winery location): Serralunga d’Alba
Year Established: The estate was founded by Giacomo’s father, Giovanni Conterno, in 1908.
Summary: Giacomo Conterno began his career with a vision to make Barolo with exceptional aging potential. In the 1920’s he achieved acclaim with his first bottling of Monfortino, a wine that lived up to his vision and was made with what today is considered traditional techniques, though at the time were avant garde. He prolonged the maceration period and aged the wine in large, old wooden botti. The estate made wine exclusively with purchased fruit until they acquired the Francia vineyard in 1974. From 1978, this vineyard has supplied both the Monfortino and the Cascina Francia bottlings. For the second time ever, in 2008, the estate purchased new vineyard—the Ceretta cru, also in Serralunga d’Alba. Currently, the estate is operated by Giacomo’s grandson, Roberto, who continues the tradition of making superb, powerful, long-lived wines.
Principal Vineyard Holdings: Approximately 9 total hectares; 6 ha in Francia (a monopole) and 3 ha in Ceretta. In addition, Giacomo Conterno recently purchased the nine-hectare Arione vineyard south of Serralunga.
Average Total Production:
Top Wines Produced / Blends:
Barolo Monfortino Barolo Cascina Francia Barbera d’Alba Cascina Francia Nebbiolo d’Alba Ceretta Inaugural Vintage (for top wines): 1920 for Monfortino, 1978 for Cascina Francia
Monprivato
Guisepe Mascarello
The great multi-vineyard Mascarello Barolos of the 1950s and 1960s were among the giants of their era. Yet, as remarkable as they were—and remain today when well cellared—Mauro recognized that Monprivato on its own could produce an even more compelling wine, prodigious in its perfume and abundant in its richness.
Since its first vintage in 1970, Mauro’s Barolo Monprivato has been one of the Langhe’s most consistently magical wines. The secret to its greatness can be found not only in Mauro’s winemaking but in a very special terroir. Approximately 15 acres in size on a southwest-facing slope in Castiglione Falletto, Monprivato’s chalky and gray marl soils offer textbook conditions for Nebbiolo.
Monprivato has been known as a special vineyard since at least the 1600s, and a quarter century ago Renato Ratti’s classification of Barolo vineyards ranked Monprivato among Barolo’s ten greatest vineyards—analagous to a Burgundy grand cru. In the 1980s, Mauro brought the complete site under his family’s ownership, making it one of the few great Barolo vineyards to be entirely owned by a single azienda.
Barolo Cà d’Morissio
Guisepe Mascarello
In 1983, having made several great Barolos from Monprivato, Mauro began replanting a two-acre section of the vineyard, using a Nebbiolo clone originally planted in Monprivato in 1921 by his grandfather Morissio. Mauro theorized that this clone—of the Michét subvariety—had become uniquely adapted to the Monprivato terroir. Mauro’s goal was to produce a super-riserva Barolo called Cà d’Morissio.
Mauro’s first two Cà d’Morissios—the 1993 and 1995—showed great promise, but it was the profound 1996 and 1997 that really put this cuvée on the map. And the 2001 (released at the end of 2008) could prove to be even more glorious. Today, Cà d’Morissio stands next to Giacomo Conterno’s Monfortino and Giacosa’s Rocche del Falletto Riserva as the greatest of all traditionally made Barolos.
Guiseppe Mascarello
The estate of Giuseppe Mascarello e Figlio has a long and illustrious history in Piemonte, and is unequivocally one of the greatest Barolo producers. This traditionally-styled winery is now run by Mauro Mascarello, who is the fourth generation of the family to head the domaine. The estate’s origins date back to the mid-1800s, when Giuseppe Mascarello made a name for himself managing the vineyards of other landowners, and which ultimately culminated in the purchase of his own vineyards and cellars in 1881 in the village of Monforte d’Alba. His son Maurizio Mascarello purchased his own farm and parcel in the great Monprivato vineyard in the neighboring village of Castiglione Falletto in 1904 and moved the family business to this location. Since that day the name of Mascarello and the fabled vineyard of Monprivato have been inextricably linked. In 1921 Maurizio purchased an old, beautiful 18th century building in the nearby village of Monchiero that had been one of the architectural landmarks in Piemonte, and moved the family business there; it remains there to this day. When Maurizio passed away in 1923, his two sons, Giuseppe and Natale took over the running of the domaine.
The two brothers eventually parted company (splitting up the vineyards), with Giuseppe continuing to gain renown for the superb quality of his Barolo, as well as his Barbera and Dolcetto. Demand for Giuseppe’s wines continued to increase and he expanded his purchase of grapes from some of the best local growers (a practice started by his father) to meet his needs. In the late 1950s he found the need to replace his old casks in the cellar with new Slavonian oak barrels, which continue to be used to this day. Giuseppe’s son Mauro Mascarello worked alongside his father for many years, before taking over the main responsibilities for running the family domaine in 1967. In 1979, upon the passing of his uncle Natale, Mauro re-purchased his vineyards and reunited the original Mascarello property. Throughout the tenure of Maurizio and Mauro Mascarello, the fame of the Monprivato vineyard continued to climb, and today it is universally recognized as one of the greatest vineyards in all of Barolo (it would be a grand cru on par with a Chambertin or a Richebourg if this were Burgundy), with the name of Mascarello always tied to the greatest expressions of Monprivato.
Monprivato
The six hectare Monprivato vineyard is beautifully situated facing southwest, in the town of Castiglione Falletto. The Mascarellos now own all of Monprivato (having purchased small plots from a couple of neighbors in the period between 1985 and 1990), making this great site now a monopole along the lines of La Tâche. Not only is the Mascarello Monprivato renowned for its great terroir, but much of it is also planted to one of the finest strains of Nebbiolo, the Michét variety, which was first introduced into the vineyard by Maurizio Mascarello in 1921. Subsequent substantial replanting with Michét were also undertaken by the family in 1963. The soils of Monprivato, coupled with the haunting refinement found in Nebbiolo Michét, produce one of the most compellingly complex and elegant interpretations of Barolo to be found. With bottle age Monprivato produces a beautiful, red fruity, truffley and soil-driven Barolo, redolent also of autumnal notes and roses. For four generations the winemaking style of the Mascarellos has followed a traditional approach that allows for the brilliant underlying terroir of all of their wines, and Monprivato in particular, to take center stage.
