An
UNPRECEDENTED
DISCOVERY:
A 38-year old treasure unearthed from the
“King of Barolo” – direct from Piemonte!
Back in January one of our European suppliers told us about a
friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend who had a very large parcel
of 1978 Aldo Conterno Barolo that could potentially be for sale.
The provenance was supposed to have been perfect with the wines
purchased upon release and stored in one cellar until now...
The night before Great Wines Of Italy, I met up with James Suckling and a group
of Italian producers in the bar at The Standard Hotel to sample some great older
1978 Barolo. The representative of the cellar owner was attending Great Wines Of
Italy in New York and sought James and I out to show us just how well these bottles
had been stored and aged. He hand carried the wine over from Italy with him and
opened the wine a few hours before meeting us in the bar.
My first impression was that a 38 year old Barolo like this was still tight and a bit
hard. It had structure and was clearly built to last, but the tannins were still playing a dominating role. I thought to myself, “Wow” this still needs more time and
I would have thought it to be sexier, flashier and a bit more voluptuous given the
1978 vintage. We discussed the wine as a group and compared it to other legendary
1978’s like Monfortino and Monprivato.
“…after having tasted more than twenty wines from this vintage over the last few months I can
only conclude that the 1978s have proven to be well worth the effort of waiting. Well-stored
bottles will provide the emotionally moving drinking experience that only a few of the
world’s great wines can offer...” ANTONIO GALLONI – Vintage Retrospective: The 1978 Barolos and Barbarescos (2006)
The representative quickly asked us what we thought, and James and I were a bit hesitant. It was a very solid bottle of Barolo given its’ age but I kind of thought it was going
to knock me over in my chair. When we told him how we felt a sheepish grin came
across his face and he asked us to wait a minute and that he would be back.
He proceeded to return showing us the ACTUAL bottle (Pictured in today’s offer)...unopened...which he opened there on the spot. What we had tasted was a
“control bottle” that he had sought out and bought from a shop in Italy. He wanted
James and I to see just how well his wine had been stored and the difference when
you buy from a collection that had DOZENS of cases of this wine…rather than a
random bottle here or there (Essentially all you find in the market these days)
The second bottle had the total “WOW effect”, from the moment he opened it,
just Night & Day!
This bottle had an incredible bouquet...a signature sign of GREAT Barolo to me is
that it has an ethereal quality from the glass that makes it as much fun to smell as
taste. It was loaded with rose petal and cinnamon possessing great power, structure
and depth. A deliciously savory finish that melts in your mouth while lingering on
for a while. WOWSER!!!
The original cellar in Piemonte; the wine was cellared in this location for 30+years until removal for delivery to Zachys.
The Story
BEHIND THIS CELLAR:
As the cellar was pitched to us, we had learned that one of the late Aldo Conterno’s
close friends asked if he could purchase a large lot of the 1978 vintage from him
as it was his nephew’s birth year. Not only did Aldo agree, but he created a special
back label commemorating this acquisition to his close friend.
Unfortunately the uncle passed away recently and the nephew inherited this large
collection of Aldo Conterno Barolo that had been stored in his uncle’s cellar for
30+ years.
Great vintage...incredible story…fabulous provenance...now what?
The next step for us was to authenticate the wine.
I reached out to Giacomo Conterno (Aldo Conterno’s son and the GM at the
winery now) I mentioned our purchasing opportunity, told him the story as we had
heard it and asked if he could sample the wines....
A few days later he came back to me and said...
• The story was 100% true and accurate. His father had sold the wine to this
local collector as a special treat for his nephew’s birth year and the winery’s
records reflected that.
• He tasted the wine and said that it was in great condition
You can’t ask for better validation than that.
I have only had the pleasure to taste a handful of 1978’s, but I can tell you that the
bottles from this cellar live up to the provenance. I can’t stress this enough…
This is the FINEST single cellar (quantitatively and qualitatively) of GREAT aged
Barolo that I have come across in my 23 years at Zachys!
I am over the moon excited that we managed to secure this collection and it will be
an absolute treasure in any collector’s cellar.
It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for people who truly love Barolo!!
All my best,