1996 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Riserva Speciale Monfortino

I have always had a love affair with the 1996 Barolo Riserva Monfortino. Readers will find this hard to believe, but when the 1996 was released, it was widely available for those who knew where to look. I had the opportunity to buy a very large parcel in Europe, but ultimately only took a few bottles as I was still in graduate school and heavily in debt. As for the wine, the 1996 remains a towering, epic Monfortino with classically austere tannins and all of the energy that drives Barolo lovers crazy for these wines. It can be enjoyed now or cellared for as long as temperature and humidity keep corks in good condition.

Would you believe I had a chance to buy a large parcel of Giovanni Conterno’s 1996 Barolo Riserva Monfortino when it was first released? Well, I did, but I was in business school, full of debt, and although I still bought a financially irresponsible amount of wine, it was not enough. This bottle of the 1996 is simply moving in its beauty. Dense and powerful in the glass, the 1996 possesses enough pedigree to drink well for another 30 years. All the classic Monfortino signatures come through in an epic, deeply moving Barolo that represents another time at Conterno.

The 1996 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is a fabulous example of what makes top-flight Barolo so compelling. Light on its feet and yet powerful, the 1996 is endowed with magnificent complexity and myriad shades of nuance that develop as the wine sits in the glass. A host of dried cherry, licorice, smoke and savory herb notes wrap around a core of intense, dark fruit. The 1996 is remarkably vivid and detailed for such a big wine. Classically austere and yet wonderfully deep, the 1996 is simply tremendous. Readers lucky enough to own it should be thrilled.