Another last minute addition to this tasting, the 2014 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is a preview, as it had not been officially released at the time of this tasting. In fact, guests at this dinner were the very first people to taste the 2014 outside the winery. And in magnum! I am glad they did, because the 2014 has subsequently closed down, at least in magnum. The 2014 spent a year less in barrel (six years instead of seven), but its release date was the same as always, as if it had spent seven years in cask. That means that by the time it arrived in the market, it had been in bottle for more than a year, which is quite unusual, as the wine is usually bottled in the summer and then shipped immediately a few months later. I always advise readers who want to taste Monfortino young to do so right upon release, before the wine starts to shut down. That was virtually impossible with the 2014. But on this night, it was spectacular, with that intoxicating mix of soaring aromatics, silky fruit and nearly imperceptible tannins. I don’t know what else I can say. 100pts Feb 2021
The 2014 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is an epic wine, just as it always has been. Readers will surely be tempted to taste the 2014 now, but I would try to resist that, if possible. Usually, I recommend tasting young Monfortino upon release, when it has only been bottled for a few months and before it shuts down. Roberto Conterno gave the 2014 six years in cask (instead of seven), so the 2014 was bottled a year earlier, in the summer of 2019, which means it is now very much in the closed-down zone. Time in the glass brings out its inner sweetness and sensuality, but the 2014 is nowhere near as expressive today as it was from cask, or earlier this year when it was one of the highlights of a magnum vertical all the way back to 1970. The 2014 Monfortino is an epic, monumental wine in every way. Opening a bottle now, though, is not likely to be especially rewarding.

When it comes to comparisons of any kind, all bets are off with the 2014 Monfortino, a Barolo that enters the stratosphere of profound and utterly moving beauty. Seamless and elegant in the glass, with stunning aromatics and perfectly ripe tannins, the 2014 is simply breathtaking in its beauty. In 2014, Roberto Conterno waited to harvest this fruit very late. The result is a Barolo that offers the textural opulence of fruit picked at the end of the season with the aromatic depth and structure of a wine from a cool year. Most incredibly of all, the 2014 is a very tannic wine analytically, and yet the sensation is of a Barolo of softness and opulence. A rush of dark red/purplish berry fruit, blood orange, spice, tobacco and mint builds into the rapturous finish. Readers who can find the 2014 when it is released next year should not hesitate, as it will unquestionably go down as one of the greatest Monfortinos ever made. 100 points

The Giacomo Conterno 2014 Barolo Riserva Monfortino is made with 100% fruit from the Francia cru, which is not the case for the 2015 vintage (that sees 22% Arione in the blend) or likely future vintages. In a sense, this 100-point wine represents a milestone or a chapter finale in the long and exciting trajectory of Italy's collected and revered Monfortino. I've had the great fortune of tasting this wine from barrel over the course of four years and twice again this summer during my visits to the Conterno estates (in Gattinara and in Monforte d'Alba).

Roberto Conterno has long been referring to 2014 as "the vintage of his heart." There had been challenging rain during the summer, but by the end of August, Roberto knew that a window of warm and dry weather could make 2014 "the vintage of the century," he tells me. On cue, the skies opened, and the sun came shining through in September and lasted through harvest in the second half of October. As a result, this was a very long growing season and that is something the Nebbiolo grape loves most. You taste this in the tannic quality of the wine that is long, silky, elegant and firm. That quality texture and structure will carry this bottle over a half century of bottling aging, or more.

From an analytical point of view, this 2014 vintage is the most tannic Monfortino made in 30 years, but you'd hardly know it thanks to the smooth integration displayed here. The wine's bouquet is nuanced and fine with redcurrant, mint, blood orange, toasted aniseed, baked clay and tarry smoke. Initially, you get a savory touch of succulent grilled meat that adds to the "chewy" quality of the wine that Roberto Conterno often attributes to his favorite vintages of Monfortino. A note about corks: Extreme care is dedicated to quality control, and each of the 4,000 to 5,000 corks ordered for this wine are sniffed by human noses on team Conterno before making the cut. ML