Giacomo Conterno

History

The Giacomo Conterno winery, one of the most renowned in Piedmont, has a rich history dating back to the early 20th century. Founded by Giovanni Conterno in 1908, the estate initially operated as a tavern in San Giuseppe near Monforte d’Alba. The Conterno family has been involved in viticulture since the 18th century, but it was Giovanni’s son Giacomo who revolutionized Barolo production by extending maceration times and aging the wine in large, old wooden botti, thereby increasing its aging potential.

In the 1920s, Giacomo Conterno began bottling his Barolo, marking a significant shift from the common practice of selling it in cask. He adopted the name Monfortino in honor of his home village, Monforte d’Alba. After Giacomo’s return from World War I, he and his father Giovanni started producing Barolo in earnest, laying the foundation for the estate’s legendary wines.

In the early 1960s, Giacomo passed the winery to his sons Giovanni and Aldo. However, their differing winemaking philosophies led to Aldo branching off to start his own winery, Poderi Aldo Conterno, in 1969. Giovanni continued the traditional approach, focusing on premium quality. In 1974, Giovanni acquired the Cascina Francia vineyard in Serralunga d’Alba, ending the era of purchasing grapes and allowing the estate to produce wines from its own land. Today, the estate is overseen by Roberto Conterno, who has continued his father’s traditionalist approach since 2004.

Terroir

Giacomo Conterno's wines are born from 17 hectares of vineyards distributed in the areas of Monforte and Serralunga d'Alba. The vineyards are cultivated with Nebbiolo and Barbera, with the vines trained in the Guyot style on hillsides that reach up to 500 meters above sea level. This altitude favors good temperature ranges, crucial for the development of the aromatic finesse of the grapes.

The lands where Giacomo Conterno's wines are born are well-defined, each cru giving a unique identity to each label. The Arione vineyard, mainly calcareous and exposed to the South, produces wines with great aromatic finesse and soft tannins. The Cerretta vineyard, with more clayey soils and western exposure, gives life to wines with intense fruity aromas of red fruits and vigorous tannins. The Francia vineyard, boasting calcareous soils and western exposure, combines the best characteristics of the previous two, resulting in wines of great elegance and freshness but also phenolic richness, flavor, and aging potential.

This heterogeneity in the terroir testifies to the extraordinary versatility of Nebbiolo, the symbolic grape of the Langhe, in renewing itself and becoming a sincere narrator of the terroir. The indigenous Piedmontese vines, particularly Nebbiolo and Barbera, find an ideal habitat in the Langhe, giving life to wines with a unique character and sensational longevity[1][2][3].