2009 Barbera d'Alba Cerretta
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Tasting notes
(bottled in June of 2011): Deep ruby-red. Pristine, high-pitched aromas of black fruits. Seriously rich, with powerful acidity and strong alcohol giving shape to the almost candied blackberry, black raspberry and cassis flavors. A bit aggressive on the back end but this is a fruit bomb, from a yield of no more than 35 hectoliters per hectare.
Critic scores
Average Score
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
Antonio Galloni, Vinous
More reviews and scores
The 2009 Barbera d'Alba Cerretta is a huge wine bursting with dark red cherries, plums, sweet herbs, rose petal and all sorts of mineral notes. Smoke, ash and tar develop in the glass. The 2009 Cerretta is an intense, virile Barbera that needs at least a few years in bottle to drop some of its baby fat. The richness and depth are impressive considering this is only the second vintage Conterno has made the wine. Mineral notes develop on the finish, but the Cerretta is ultimately more about fruit.
The 2009 Barbera d’Alba Cerretta is a huge wine bursting with dark red cherries, plums, sweet herbs, rose petal and all sorts of mineral notes. Smoke, ash and tar develop in the glass. The 2009 Cerretta is an intense, virile Barbera that needs at least a few years in bottle to drop some of its baby fat. The richness and depth are impressive considering this is only the second vintage Conterno has made the wine. Mineral notes develop on the finish, but the Cerretta is ultimately more about fruit. Anticipated maturity: 2014-2022. The drive from Barolo to Monforte was a little different this year. Peering across the valley over the hillside where the Conterno winery sits, the observant eye will notice a number of large barrels outside the main building. Roberto Conterno had no choice but to replace a number of his casks this year as the staves had begun to bend from many years of use, and Conterno was understandably afraid of the unthinkable, that the casks could finally yield to old age full of wine. Still, he was clearly upset by having to replace barrels that he personally moved into the new winery with his father during the summer of 1985. Just to think of the wines that were racked during that move. The 1978, 1979 and 1982 Monfortini were still in cask. To be honest, seeing the empty space in the winery as the new casks were about to arrive was quite a shock. The wines, however, were not. I tasted all of the wines currently in cask plus the new releases from bottle. My high expectations were easily surpassed. Conterno fans have a lot to look forward to. Roberto Conterno has decided to give his new Nebbiolo from the Cerretta vineyard another year in barrel. At the moment Conterno is leaning towards releasing the 2009 as a Langhe Nebbiolo rather than Barolo, although that could always change. Readers who want to learn more about the 2011 harvest at Conterno may want to take a look at my video interview with Roberto Conterno. Importers: Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY; tel. (914) 244-0404, The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484
About the producer
Giacomo Conterno is arguably Barolo’s most celebrated estate. While most famous for its Monfortino Riserva, the quality found in every bottling of Nebbiolo and Barbera at this address makes them a benchmark producer for both varieties.