2020 Barolo Monfortino Riserva
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Tasting notes
My first tasting of the 2020 Barolo Monfortino at the estate from barrel, it’s an upfront red offering a lot of immediate charm and an elegant personality, with a sweetly perfumed nose that boasts fresh, poppy fruits of black raspberries, wet stone, and purple flowers. While medium-bodied, it has a rounded and saturating feel, with a youthful, rounded, fruity mid-palate that gently tapers through the finish. Compared to the more chiseled 2019, the 2020 offers a lovely contrast and promises a lot of finesse from this first preview.
Critic scores
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Neal Martin (Vinous)
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The Giacomo Conterno 2020 Barolo Riserva Monfortino, tasted in bottle ahead of its October release, is quite beautiful in its softness, generosity and sheer Nebbiolo delicacy. Compared to the more structured 2019, the 2020 feels fuller, silkier and more immediately embracing, with the sensation of biting into ripe fruit. The tannins are nearly invisible, supple and seamless, giving the wine a plump, graceful mouthfeel without sacrificing depth or pedigree. Roberto Conterno captured the vintage perfectly when he said, "Between 2019, 2020 and 2021, the 2020 will be the first one we drink."
Grapes come from Francia and Arione in Serralunga d’Alba. Release set for autumn 2026. Cask sample. A shade deeper than the 2019 Monfortino, but with the same lustre. Enormous saline minerality and slow-to-open-up raspberry in the background. Suave, elegant and yet dense, with grainy tannins underneath the fruit. Still a little unsettled, but this is a cask sample. Beautifully integrated yet marked acidity. (WS)
Big and plump, the 2020 Barolo Riserva Monfortino rushes forth with vibrant, powerful dark red fruit tones. This is a wine of utterly breathtaking beauty. Dense, seamless and nuanced, with barely a perception of tannin, the 2020 possesses a gorgeous inner sweetness that runs all the way through to the exotic, expressive finish. The 2020 Monfortino is shaping up to be epic. Dazzling.
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.