2021 Poderi Aldo Conterno, Barolo DOCG “Romirasco” Bussia Cru, Piemonte, Italy.
The 2021 Romirasco Bussia cru Barolo from Aldo Conterno is surprising brawny and powerful, from a vintage that is showing more fine delicacy than fruit density, but very fitting in style with this producer with meaty, ripe and firm Nebbiolo character from start to finish. The full bodied palate and 15% natural alcohol make this not a shy version of Barolo and it will get your attention with its tannin structure and depth of fruit, revealing balsamic notes, earthy dark berry, subtle florals and licorice on the nose and in the mouth with gripping layers of black cherry, damson plum, blood orange and fig fruits, along with hints of forrest truffle, cedar, minty herbs, mocha, incense and tobacco leaf. The Aldo Conterno Romirasco from the famous Bussia cru is sourced from a unique 55 year old block that is set on expressive terroir with old limestone marl and the vines have been replanted from time to time with the main clone of Nebbiolo here being the Lampia selection and its rootstock is Rupestris du Lot, which adds to the distinction here. The Romirasco, as mentioned before, sees a full hand harvest and careful selection in the vines, with the grapes brought into the winery cool and they are 100% de-stemmed and macerated/fermented in stainless steel vat(s) with many rackings before going into barrels to mature. The single Cru Barolo at Aldo Conterno wines spend more than 30 months in oak casks and then up to 6 years in bottle, as seen in the Gran Bussia, the rare riserva bottling.
The Poderi Aldo Conterno winery’s legendary status comes from, Aldo Conterno, who was an Italian winemaker of his eponymous wines in the Piemonte region, in the district of Langhe, most notably producing powerful and age worthy Barolo wines. The winery is located in Monforte d’Alba, in the famous Bussia Barolo vineyard and Conterno is widely acclaimed and is one of the greatest among Piemonte’s foremost producers, which extends into modern times. It is well known, that Aldo Conterno was the youngest son of Giacomo Conterno from Monforte, who at the end of the 1960s wanted to set up his own business, so he managed to buy the Il Favot country house and founded Poderi Aldo Conterno. Raising the bar for Barolo over the next few decades, and today, his sons Franco, Stefano (winemaker) and Giacomo run the family business, continuing to put out some of Italy’s finest wines, like this Romirasco Barolo. It should be noted that Aldo Conterno embraces ripeness and fullness of flavors, with many of their Barolo offerings, like this one come in at 15% natural alcohol, though that said, they are wonderfully elegant and profound wines. The Romirasco is one of the more elite efforts here, though sometimes over shadowed by the Gran Bussia Barolo, which is probably the signature wine of the winery and almost impossible to find, except by the most serious of collectors. It is not often, I get a chance to enjoy these wines, so it was a real treat, and imagine this rich and intense 2021 Romirasco Bussia Barolo will be even better in another 10 to 15 years!
($300-349 Est.) 96 Points, grapelive