Giacomo Conterno

The Story of Giacomo Conterno

The Conterno family began cultivating wine as some of the first in Piemonte around 1800. However, Giacomo Conterno himself took the helm about 100 years later, starting wine production in the Barolo area of Piemonte in 1908 and releasing his first vintage in 1924. To truly understand the vineyard's history, we need to go one generation further to his son, Giovanni Conterno, who developed the philosophy and style underlying the fame and wines we know today.

Today, the vineyard is led by Giovanni's son, Robert Conterno, representing the third generation and continuing the proud traditions around the estate's wines, some of the region's best and most sought-after.

Giacomo Conterno has always been ultra-traditionalist, never embracing the so-called modernist movement in the 1980s in Barolo, where several winemakers started using French barriques instead of traditional large botti grande. Conterno exclusively uses these large, old barrels.

The Vineyard, the Vineyards, and the Mythical Barolo Wines

The "Cascina Francia" vineyard is in the heart of Barolo in Monforte d’Alba, precisely in the historic center of the town of Monforte. However, it is in Serralunga d’Alba that Conterno's outstanding land possessions are located.

• Francia

  It all started with the Barolo Cru Francia, which formed the basis of the entire estate's wine portfolio for many years. Giovanni Conterno purchased the vineyard in 1974, along with the associated land. This marked the end of buying grapes from local farmers, as he could now begin planting new vines on the Francia plot. Grapes from the Francia plot were first used in the production of the estate's Barolo in 1978 when the vines were about 4 years old. This is, of course, the legendary Barolo Cascina Francia.

  However, the name Barolo Cascina Francia was only used on the label from 1980 but was changed to simply Barolo Francia in connection with the official classification of the vineyards in 2010.

  From Conterno's 16-hectare Francia plot, the estate also produces its flagship and pride: Barolo Monfortino, exclusively made in the best years with carefully selected grapes from the plot. Monfortino is a name to know if you love Barolo, as it is arguably the most iconic of them all.

• Cerretta

  Over the years, several plots have been purchased on nearby Cru vineyards, and the portfolio has expanded. It started with the estate buying a small plot on the Cerretta vineyard in 2008. The vision was to vinify this as Barolo, but only when the land was cared for enough to yield the desired quality. Therefore, Nebbiolo and Barbera were produced from Cerretta until the first vintage of Barolo Cerretta, released in 2019, which we can attest tastes absolutely superb even in its youth.

• Arione

  Subsequently, in 2015, Conterno made a historic acquisition of the Arione vineyard, covering a whole 9 hectares, previously owned by the famous winemaker Gigi Rosso. On Arione, 7 hectares of Nebbiolo are cultivated for Barolo, 1 hectare for Nebbiolo d’Alba, and 1 hectare for Barbera d’Alba.

Quality in a Class of Its Own

Common to all Conterno wines is the estate's uncompromising approach to quality through gentle cultivation and care of the vineyards, meticulous grape selection, slow fermentation, and even greater patience in the maturation process in large, old barrels. All to ensure that every bottle, whether labeled Barolo, Nebbiolo, or Barbera, delivers quality in a class of its own and has the potential to be aged for decades. According to Roberto himself, perhaps even generations.

There is no doubt about Giacomo Conterno's cult status among wine lovers, making these wines extremely difficult to come by. However, you often find an extraordinary selection for sale from private collectors on ShareWine.