Aldo Conterno

Hardly any other winery became so successful so quickly. Not only because Aldo Conterno came from a well-known family of winegrowers, but also because he brought the highest quality from his top vineyards right from the start. And not least because, like some of his ancestors in the 19th century, he emigrated to California in the 1950s to produce wine with his uncle - and therefore had contacts that enabled him to export. But like most of his ancestors, Aldo returned after a few years to produce the finest Barolo with his father Giacomo and brother Giovanni.

The Conterno family already produced wine in the Monforte d'Alba region in the 19th century. As almost all families at that time, the wine was sold in barrels. The winegrowers in Piedmont were very poor at that time, even if it is hard to imagine it today. Aldo's grandfather Giovanni was the first to believe in success through quality. He filled the first Barolo Riserva in the 1920s. However, Conterno wines first became famous through Aldo's father Giacomo Conterno, who took over the winery at the end of the 1930s, and especially after the Second World War with his complex and storable Barolo convinced. In 1961 the sons took over the company. While Giovanni wanted to rigorously continue the traditional style with which the Conternos became famous, Aldo wanted a softer, more fruity style. As the brothers could not agree, Aldo Conterno struck when the Fattoria Favot, a farm in the middle of the best locations of Bussia, was for sale and founded the Poderi Aldo Conterno in 1969.

However, to call him a "modernist" would not be right either, because he converted his style into 2,500 litre barrels and thus differed from the "Barolo Boys" who used barriques. However, he started early with yield reduction, fermented with natural yeasts, moved the wines after about a month and separated them from the skins a little earlier than others. Thus he achieved complex Barolo, which were nevertheless more fruity and a little earlier accessible than those of the "real" traditionalists. Success proved him right. In the 1990s he successfully produced and sold up to 300,000 bottles per year.

And yet he wasn't really satisfied. He began again to change and to set on still higher quality, finally he possessed nevertheless the best situations of the area. The purchase of grapes was reduced and gradually completed. The own vineyards were converted to organic cultivation and the yield reduction was carried out even more rigorously. Up to five runs of "green harvest" with approx. 5,000 vines per hectare resulted in a yield of only 15-25 hl per hectare, extremely little. Today, only about 80,000 bottles are produced from 28 hectares of grapes.

Due to the low yield, however, the grapes ripen physiologically earlier, can be harvested up to a week earlier - and bring not only ripe fruit but also a finer acidity. This is the special style of the Aldo Conterno wines. Complex, rich in finesse, fruity and silky elegance. Unmistakable.

In 2012, when Aldo Conterno died, his sons Franco and Giacomo continued the business. Stefano Conterno is the oenologist and is in charge of the production. The Barolo Colonnello, Cicala and Romirasco sites, all individual crusts from Bussia, as well as the legendary "Granbussia", which results from manual selection of the best grapes from these sites, still mature for an extremely long time in the large Slavonian oak barrels. For the Chardonnay and newer wine specialities, French barriques have now also found their way into the cellar, although they are used extremely discreetly. SUPERIORE.DE