• The official name of the winery is "Conterno Giacomo Azienda Vitivinicola".
  • "Azienda Vitivinicola" means a wine grape growing estate.
  • In the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, the winery is listed on the label simply as "Giacomo Conterno".
  • In the 1950s, and 60s, they are labeled "Ditta Giacomo Conterno" (loosely, the Giacomo Conterno Company).
  • From the early 1970s to the present, the wines are labeled "Conterno Giacomo Azienda Vitivinicola di Giovani Conterno".
• Table Key: N = Non-Reserve, R = Reserve, X = None Made
  • Before 1980, reserve wines were officially called "Riserva Speciale".
  • Up through the 1940s, the term "Stravecchia" was sometimes used to designate a reserve. The term means "very old".
  • I have high confidence in the entries in bold font, less for the non-bold.
• Clickable entries are linked to a photo of one or more labels for that wine.
  
  • If you have a photo of wine that I do not, or you have a better photo than the one here, and you would like to contribute your photo, please email it to me (vastola "at" ecse.rpi.edu).
• Please see the notes at the bottom of the page which include more on the history of the winery and its wines, as well as some wines not listed in the table.

• The winery began in 1908 when Giovanni Conterno started an osteria (tavern) and made wine in the village of San Giuseppe, and significantly expanded when his son, Giacomo, returned from World War I. During this time, their wine was sold in large barrels in Italy and Argentina (where Giacomo was born and they still had family).
• According to A Wine Atlas of the Langhe, in the 1920s, father and son (Giovanni and Giacomo) decided to bottle their best wine as a riserva, and this is how Monfortino was born. Consistent with this, the Wassermans wrote: "According to Carlo Petrini, Giuseppe Conterno produced his first Monfortino, the 1920, from grapes frown in the Le Coste vineyard of Monforte." But then added "Other reports suggest that it was made in 1912. Giovanni and Aldo Contero told us they don't recall the date of the first one, only that it was prior to the First World War." The Giovanni referred to in this quote is the son of Giacomo not the father. The book Barolo: Tar and Roses says that Monfortino was first made by Giovanni in 1912.
• Giovanni the father died in 1934. Giacomo ran the winery and the osteria.
• Giacomo Conterno ran the winery until 1961, when he turned it over to his two sons, Giovanni and Aldo Contero. The Wassermans report that Giovanni and his father Giacomo made the 1958 Barolos, but that Giovanni made the wines by himself starting in 1959. Giacomo passed away in 1971.
• Aldo wanted to experiment with new winemaking techniques, so in 1969, Giovanni and Aldo Contero split the winery. Aldo went out on his own, founding Poderi Aldo Conterno.
• In 1974, Giovanni Conterno purchased the entire 14-hectare Cascina Francia vineyard in Serralunga d'Alba.
  • At the time of purchase, the land was not being used for vines, so the entire vineyard was replanted in 1974.
  • The G. Conterno winery has not used purchased grapes since that time. No G. Conterno Barolo was made in 1975, 1976, or 1977.
  • 1978 was the first vintage in which both Barolos were made exclusively from Cascina Francia grapes, though the vineyard name did not appear on the Barolo until the 1980 vintage and it has never appeared on the label of Monfortino.
  • This webpage has a nice story from John Kapon that "Giovanni asked his wife by what means they could consolidate their business. She logically replied that they should purchase their own vines, nurture the vitis vinifiera themselves to control quality. He discovered a vineyard whose entire crop was being sold to other growers and its acquisition meant that they gained exclusivity, Mrs Conterno reasoning that higher quality and prices would yield financial returns."
  • Here is the same story directly from Roberto as reported by John Kapon, as well as the notes from a fabulous tasting of 21 Vintages of Monfortino with Roberto Conterno from May of 2005.
• The Conternos also made a Barbaresco in a few vintages including 1965, 1970, and 1971, and a Barbaresco Riserva in 1954 and 1958.
• Facts about bottlings:
  • In some vintages (up to and including 1980), both a non-riserva Barolo and a Barolo Riserva were made (not including Monfortino). In these cases, these wines may have been bottled at different times, but from the same lots of wine. So the only difference between a "Barolo" and a "Barolo Riserva" is that the Riserva spent more time in cask.
  • In each vintage, all Monfortino is from the same lot. Even if some bottles say "Riserva" while others say "Riserva Speciale" or "Stravecchio", these are all from the same cask and bottling. There was only one bottling of Monfortino in each vintage.
• Large bottles (over 10 liters) of Monfortino were produced in some vintages. Pictures of some large bottles.

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