2016 Conterno Fantino Barolo Castelletto Vigna Pressenda, Piedmont

The 2016 Barolo Castelletto Vigna Pressenda is bright, punchy and super expressive, with striking floral and mineral top notes that lend energy and brilliance to this mid-weight Barolo. The purity of the flavors is just striking. Medium in body, gracious and nuanced, the Castelletto has so much to offer. This is a super-classic wine that shows significant tension and austerity; I would give it a few years to soften.

94+ points Antonio Galloni vinous.com Feb 2020 Drink 2021 - 2031

This wine boasts a very etched and linear quality that defines both the bouquet and the mouthfeel. The Conterno Fantino 2017 Barolo Castelletto Vigna Pressenda starts in little clicks with wild berry, cassis, dark plum, spice and tar. Those intervals add up quickly to form a greater sense of length and endurance that this wine, made with fruit from silty soils mixed with sand and clay, delivers in both the good years and the more difficult ones alike. I noted an exotic floral component in the 2016 vintage; however, this 2017 edition is far more rooted in dark primary fruit. Light touches of smoke and spice give lift to the finish.

94+ points Monica Larner robertparker.com Jul 2021 Drink 2024-2042

Conterno Fantino Barolo Castelletto Vigna Pressenda is a magnificent expression of one of Barolo’s most celebrated crus, coming from the Castelletto hillside in Monforte d’Alba where altitude, limestone rich marl and perfectly exposed slopes give Nebbiolo extraordinary power and aromatic lift. Vigna Pressenda is a prized parcel within this cru, known for producing Barolo of great depth, structure and long term elegance. The Fantino family has farmed these hills for generations, and under the guidance of Claudio Fantino and the late Guido Conterno they have built a reputation for marrying traditional Piedmontese terroir with a modern, precise approach that allows the vineyard to speak with clarity.

In the glass the wine shows a deep garnet core with brick tinges at the rim, releasing aromas of rose petal, tar, dark cherry, licorice, dried herbs and subtle spice. The palate is powerful yet beautifully sculpted, delivering layers of sour cherry, red plum, truffle and earthy minerality framed by firm but refined tannins that promise decades of graceful aging. It is a stunning match for braised beef, wild game, porcini mushrooms and aged Parmigiano, and with fifteen to twenty five years in the cellar it will evolve into something truly haunting, gaining more floral, leather and savoury complexity as it matures.