A Profound Wine

The police could be on their way to throw me in the hoosegow! I admit that last night I committed infanticide. In wine speak, infanticide is when one drinks a wine that is too young, or not fully mature. Strangely enough the wine in question was not young at all, but from the 1996 vintage! How could a wine old enough for bar mitzvah be too young!!??

This lovely liquidity in red was the 1996 Giacomo Conterno Cascina Francia Barolo, provided thanks to wine director Rachel from the cellar at the now closed Etas Unis restaurant on New York's upper east side. The wine was brought to table directly from the cellar and was decanted. In a word, it was profound. It is fascinating to follow a wine over several hours as it warms up from cellar temperature to room temperature, when all the wine has to offer is released over time. In this case though, all was not revealed, even after three hours, because the wine has only reached an early stage of what will eventually be an incredible evolution.

The house of Giacomo Conterno which is located in Monforte is one of the legends of the Barolo zone in the Piedmont region of Italy. Now run by Roberto Conterno, the wines continue to be made in the style that is known as traditional. There are only 2 Barolo (Cascina Francia and Monfortino) made at this estate, both from the Cascina Francia vineyard in the commune of Serralunga. The wines from Serralunga tend to be brawny and masculine, full of tannins and great acid backbones which allow the wines to be very long lived.

The 1996 Cascina Francia had an exotic spice box nose right off the bat, but it was more like bunting than swinging for the fences. After thirty minutes of air the wine starting teasing with its many facets, which will no doubt be revealed in another 10 years. Rose, violet, road tar, forest floor, truffle (somewhere between white and black), mineral and a beautiful earthiness were all present. The aromas weaved in and out and made you want to come back for another sniff. The palate was full and at the same time light as a cotton candy. The acidity was mouthwatering, and the wine made an excellent pairing with my venison. This was clearly one of those rare, three dimensional wines, that wine makers strive for but only rarely achieve. A wine of meditation to be sure.