Conterno Fantino Barolo SorI Ginestra 2015 1.5L

Sorì Ginestra is Conterno Fantino's flagship wine, and its origins are woven directly into the estate's founding story. When Guido Fantino married Alda Conterno in 1982, he and her brother Claudio Conterno joined forces to establish the winery. It was built on vineyards in the historic Ginestra cru that Alda's father, Lorenzo Conterno, had farmed for years, previously selling the grapes to the legendary Beppe Colla and later to Rocche dei Manzoni. Ginestra is widely considered one of the most important hills in all of Monforte d'Alba, documented as a named site since the 1800s. This single, historic parcel, with vines planted in 1971, 1983, and 1988, sits at 340 to 360 metres with the ideal south-facing exposure that gives the wine its name ("sorì" is the Piedmontese term for such a site). The soil here is notably more compact than the sandier ground elsewhere on the hill, producing bigger, more structured wines with real backbone. Farmed organically, hand-harvested, and fermented spontaneously on indigenous yeast, the wine is aged in French oak barriques with a portion of new wood. Production is tiny, at 800 to 1,000 cases a year.

The result is exactly what critics call it: "the thoroughbred of Barolos." Expect ripe cherry, wild berry, and dried violet on the nose, layered with tar, licorice, candied orange peel, and a lift of mint and eucalyptus, all wrapped in toasty oak. The palate is powerful and blockbuster in structure, yet increasingly refined in recent vintages, with velvety, well-handled tannins, vibrant acidity, and a long, savoury finish.