From the little I know about this wine; 2011 was not a stunning vintage for the Conterno Grand Cru vineyards so the juice destined for the top Barolo went into the Francia, or so I have been informed.

Also, there has been a name change from Monfortino to Grand Reserva.

Don’t quote me on this, that’s what I was told when looking for another bottle of this wine.

As stated I was also told that the 2011 Piedmont, was not a good vintage. (we were also told 2011 Australia was not a good vintage and yet, I am still drinking 2011  (1000 Candles Pinot Noir from Yarra Valley) that has stood the test of time and vintage)

At 12 of age, I was not prepared for the unbelievable quality of this wine. I would go as far as to say it has been one hell of a Barolo experience.

In the glass the wine is a dark raspberry colour that translated to the plate, in fact, I found this to be rather masculine and robust with ripe black fruit racing from the front plate and finishing on the back end of the plate with a wonderful mouth-filling silky tannins backed up with mineral notes twisting in and out, concluding with more, notes of black fruits with unmistakable hints of fennel on the lengthy velvet-like finish of this wine.

I loved this wine and put it in a league of its own!

And I think you will find it is now priced accordingly should you be lucky enough to find a bottle, in a wine store in Melbourne.

Choose your wine store carefully as the price of this wine may vary greatly from store to store.

PS. I did decant the wine for an hour or so and my notes are over 5 hours.

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I didn’t plan a meal around this bottle, although I should have after an hour’s decant it started to show dark fruit and a lot of promise.

Then once it got me hooked, (like after the first sip). I just kept on enjoying the wine, for the flavour journey it took me.