2020 Giacomo Conterno "Arione" Barolo

The 2020 Barolo Arione is a wine of extreme delicacy and finesse. Lavender, sage, mint, cedar and rose petal are some of the many notes that lift from the palate. Deceptive in its mid-weight structure, the 2020 impresses with its inner sweetness and sublime balance. - By Antonio Galloni on November 2023 Conterno fans will find a lot to like in the 2020 Barolos. For starters, Conterno bottled all his single-vineyard Barolos and Monfortino, which means readers will be able to compare all the wines, something that has not always been possible in recent years, in vintages where Conterno has chosen to just make Monfortino, or no Monfortino at all. One of the recent changes here has been a decision to shorten time in cask by a year for the Barolos. “At a certain point, we noticed the wines weren’t gaining anything by spending an additional year in cask,” Conterno told me. Given its longer aging, time in wood for Monfortino is more of vintage-by-vintage decision, although, here, too, the general trend is also to give the wine less time in cask. In other news, Conterno recently announced his acquisition of Ristorante Bovio in La Morra. Ristorante Bovio is one of the most loved restaurants in the region. It will be interesting to see what things look like when the restaurant re-opens (with a new name) in a few months’ time. In my view, there is no stronger message a producer can send than investing in their own region.