Barolo Colonello, Poderi Aldo Conterno 2021

A restrained and elegant wine with aromas of citrus, leaves, dried cherries, orange peel and an enticing whiff of peppermint. The palate is graceful despite a full body, tense acidity and firm, muscular yet velvety tannins, but everything is well packed, poised and balanced. Long, lavish and bracing aftertaste.

This wine has an entirely different colour to the Bussia cuvée. It is vividly carmine red with a light bulb in the centre of my glass. As always, this is the most balletic wine of the single vineyard wines and yet the strictness and sinew, which supports the stunningly pure fruit, is astoundingly adroit and rigid. Lithe, pure and statuesque, this is a thrillingly elegant wine with a florality that is enchanting, and it sings precisely from the song sheet of its soils and setting without missing a note. Thrilling, singular and stunningly measured, this is as pure as I have ever seen this Cru. In this respect, it is a textbook Colonnello and the finest young version of this wine I have tasted.

The estate’s first single-vineyard Barolo was introduced in 1970 – the same year that Aldo Conterno struck out on his own. It hails from a 1ha site with predominantly sandy soil, rich in magnesium and manganese. Floral top notes exhibit Nebbiolo’s classic rose scent, nuanced by brushwood, toasted hazelnut and earthy roots. The palate rings out with clarity and precision. Raspberry and rhubarb underlie the silky, finessed tannins. A warning though: there are masses of them! A truffle innuendo haunts the finish. This is a wine to forget about for a few years.