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Complex and multifaceted, the ’11 Barolo Colonnello changes every moment--this is a rich, structured wine that shifts with kaleidoscopic beauty. Dark fruit dances with fresh-cut herbs, balsam, black licorice, rose petals, warm saddle leather, and cigar wrapper in this intense, evocative wine. Chewy tannins and a fine acidic spine provide an age-worthy structure, but even now, this wine floods the mouth with nuanced notes as it builds to a mineral-laden finish that’s accented by new leather and violets. Made from grapes grown on 40 to 45-year-old vines, the third "cru" from Bussia Soprana, the Colonnello is the deepest in color and often the most approachable of Aldo Conterno’s single-vineyard Barolos; after fermenting on the skins for about five weeks, this wine ages for 28 months in botti before bottling. Powerful and vibrant, this ’11 Barolo needs a couple of years in the cellar before it drinks for decades.

• Country: Italy
• Region: Piemonte
• Sub Region: Cuneo
• Sub Region/Classification: Barolo
• Commune/Village: Monforte d'Alba : Bussia
• Vineyard: Colonello

Aldo Conterno is known as the "King of Barolo" in Italy. Poderi Aldo Conterno is situated in Monforte d'Alba on the prized Bussia Soprano vineyard, in the heart of the Barolo region. The Conterno family has been producing and aging the great Piemontese wines for more than five generations. Aldo left his legendary brother at his father's cellar (the Giacomo Conterno estate) in 1969 to pursue his own winemaking interests and reputation, creating the wines of Poderi Aldo Conterno in the "Favot" cellar. The estate exclusively vinifies its own 25 hectacres of grapes.

The Conterno brothers parted ways back in the late sixties to create their own styles of Barolo, Giovanni producing the more traditional style of the two. However, Aldo's wines are not considered modern; he still refuses to age them in small barriques. The wines are more fruit driven than the earthy wines of the Giacomo Conterno estate across town in Monforte. Aldo Conterno's corporate policy of producing only the highest quality wines while mixing tradition with innovation falls directly in line with the aspirations of IWM. We offer only the highest quality wines to our clients.