Epic, Historic Greatness
2005 G. Conterno Barolo
Riserva Monfortino
Lowest Price in the Nation
"Widely considered the greatest Barolo in the world, and there's very little to argue with" -John Gilman
One taste of Conterno's Monfortino makes a couple things blatantly clear - it's one of the most profound wine experiences around, and it's a distance runner.
The wine simply stops you dead in your tracks.
For me, no wine gives substance to the French term Vin de Garde (a wine for long aging) the way Conterno's Monfortino does. It's a wine that starts to hit its stride three decades after the vintage - and that's just the beginning.
 |
Maybe it's just easier to put it this way: Monfortino is one of the world's great wines.
Which explains why the 500-600 cases that Conterno produces only in special vintages are hunted down by collectors across the globe.
In Barolo, 2005 represents a pause in the steady march of riper and more alcoholic vintages. It's a return to more classical portions. At their best, 2005s show a fascinating lift that carries a complex spectrum of perfume and minerals. 05 is a vintage where the soul of Barolo was able to flourish.
The vintage seems to favor the best wines from the best sites. Unsurprisingly, 05 Monfortino is glorious.
The 2005 shows classic Monfortino trademarks of dark fruit, earth, smoke and game. What stands out in the 2005 Monfortino is its level of delineation and the delicacy with which it expresses itself. There's a clarity and a palpable sense of minerality that's just amazing. Monfortino's famous intensity is proudly on display, but in a way that's discreet and beautifully harmonious. 05 offers an intriguing stylistic contrast to the density and severity of the bookend vintages of 04 and 06.
Monfortino has a compellingly long history of greatness.It's a wine that's been historically validated by a long stretch of incredible, often life-changing, wines.
In 1920, when Giacomo Conterno first made Monfortino, no one was trying to make a "great" wine from Barolo. But that's exactly what he set out to do, especially with his flagship Monfortino. We're talking selecting only the most pristine fruit from top-tier vineyards - back in the day (before 78) it was from purchased fruit from multiple sources; today it's all from their own Cascina Francia vineyard.
The intention with Monfortino has always been to stand on tip toes and reach for the top. And the results have been epic. It's easy to make the case that Monfortino is THE benchmark Barolo.
Monfortino is a very special wine. It's emphatically Barolo and yet, reaches such heights that it often seems to transcend the category and enter the elite space shared by the greatest wines in the world.
Conterno's 2005 Monfortino promises to be yet another impressive and long-lived addition to Monfortino's illustrious history. This is a don't miss for the beauty of its finely etched classicism and its outright quality.
To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463.
Ian McFadden
Director, Fine & Rare Wine
Crush Wine & Spirits
Antonio Galloni: The 2005 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is a huge, explosive wine endowed with tons of fruit and equally formidable structure. It boasts tremendous length and a brightness in its fruit that suggests it will be very long lived. I have never truly loved the quality of the tannin in the 2005. It will be interesting to see what the next twelve months bring as the wine finishes its elevage in cask.