Conterno Fantino Barolo Sorì Ginestra 2009

Perfumed with candied black fruits backed up with plenty of toasty oak. This is simple but assertive with lots of black cherry fruit and lovely herbal accents. Smooth on the palate, and nicely balanced with plenty of tart red berry fruit over well integrated oak spice. The tannins are relatively soft here, allowing this to deliver a nice sweet red cherry flavor on the palate, though the finish is cut short as the tannins reappear. Nicely done all around, sort of archetype middle of the road style Barolo. 91pts

Dense and herbal on the nose with light toast setting off a core of dried fruit and herbs. Almost lush in the mouth with a lot of power behind the dense bitter black cherry fruit. This is tannic but the tannins are silky and the overall impression is of a wine that dense but not thick with good persistence to the spicy black cherry fruit that gains a nice earthy tone on the finish. 91pts

This offered up sweetly fruited dark cherry notes on the nose that had both traditional notes of asphalt and nettle adding interest as well as top notes of powdered sugar, toast, and milk chocolately oak adding complexity. Very fresh acidity up front with ripe fruit and lots of tannin still to resolve this remains chewy with good, bright fruit on both the mid-palate and finish. The acidity here is solid and adds needed lift to the wine which offers admirable transparency and balance in the mouth. Ending on a bit of a cherry Coke note this is certainly made in a crowd pleasing style and offers up great fruit but lacks nuance and complexity. A solid wine. 2008-2016

A touch of coffee on the nose with roasted red plums, menthol and a touch of remaining wood spice. Round and plush at first but there are some bitter tannins that poke out on the finish. The bright acids offer nice life but the wine is a bit hollow and hot. The finish shows some nice fruit with good length but the wine is very simple and note likely to improve. 2009-2014 85pts