2018 Diego Conterno Le Coste Di Monforte Barolo 750 ml

Modena has Ferrari. Florence has Gucci.

Barolo has Conterno—a name that is shorthand for class and high quality in the world of Piedmontese wine.

Each branch of the family tree is blessed with fantastic vineyard sites, acquired generations ago and slowly divided through the years. So in 2000, when Diego Conterno left Conterno-Fantino, the collector-favorite juggernaut he cofounded in 1982, the entire region took notice—especially because he brought 20 acres of prime vineyards with him.

Conterno’s 2018 Barolo Le Coste di Monforte, which Vinous called “impeccably done,” hails from one of those choice pieces of terroir: a single vineyard at the southern edge of the Barolo zone. Perched 1,200 feet above sea level, the organically farmed vines there face south, showering the grapes in abundant sunlight. Conterno turns that magnificent fruit into a wine of quiet elegance: It’s full-bodied yet smooth, girded with slow-building tannins and replete with classic Barolo flavors of red fruit, white truffles, and fresh rose petals.

Diego Conterno trained under the legendary Beppe Colla during the heyday of Prunotto—one of the most important Barolo pioneers of the 20th century—before starting Conterno-Fantino in 1982. After decades of glory making more modern-styled wines, he struck out on his own in 2000 to make more traditional wines under the Diego Conterno label.
Antonio Galloni of Vinous has called Diego Conterno “an estate to watch,” urging wine lovers looking for an under-the-radar source for traditional Barolo to “check out these wines before they become better known.” These are certainly some of our favorite wines in northwest Italy.