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 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 Robert Parker Jul 2021 Drink 2024-2042

From the Castelletto cru in Monforte d’Alba, Conterno Fantino Vigna Pressenda Barolo is a powerful yet finely detailed expression of Nebbiolo shaped by one of Barolo’s most structured sites. The Conterno Fantino estate, founded in the 1980s by Claudio Conterno and Guido Fantino, has become a reference for modern Barolo, combining precision vineyard work with careful extraction and thoughtful oak ageing. Castelletto’s clay and limestone soils, along with its altitude, deliver wines of depth, firm structure and impressive ageing potential.

A deep garnet with brick tinges sits in the glass. Aromas unfold with dark cherry, blackberry and plum layered with rose petal, spice, tobacco and a distinct earthy mineral edge. There is a sense of quiet power here, dense yet lifted.

The palate is full bodied and structured, delivering concentrated red and dark fruit framed by firm, finely grained tannins and bright acidity. Notes of liquorice, tar, dried herbs and savoury earth build through the mid palate, leading to a long, persistent finish that feels both powerful and controlled. This is a Barolo built for patience, evolving over fifteen to twenty five years into layers of truffle, leather and complex tertiary character.

Braised beef short ribs, wild boar ragù clinging to pappardelle, or aged Parmigiano broken into generous shards. A late night shift into something intense and layered, Verdi giving way to Shostakovich, the wine carrying that same sense of depth, tension and slow unfolding drama.