2007 Giacomo Conterno "Cascina Francia" Barbera d'Alba

“The 2007 Barolo Cascina Francia is a wine I deeply regret not buying more of when it was readily available. There was no Monfortino that year, so all the fruit went into the Francia. Deep and explosive in the glass, the 2007 offers up copious dark fruit, scorched earth, gravel, tar and menthol. Broad swaths of tannin lend muscular intensity throughout. This is classic Serralunga all the way. (AG)” (12/2025)

“The 2007 Barbera d’Alba Cascina Francia flows onto the palate with waves of dark red fruit, sweet roses, licorice, flowers, menthol and tar, showing a remarkable combination of ripeness, clarity and detail. Medium in body, the wine offers tons of length and a refined, polished finish. Stylistically, the 2007 recalls the finesse and perfume of the 2004, with perhaps a touch more intensity and depth. Simply, put, this is as majestic a Barbera as readers are likely to find. Hard as it may seem to believe, this wine continues to get better with each passing vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2017. My recent visit to Giacomo Conterno was fascinating, as I had an opportunity to spend several hours tasting through all of the wines in barrel with proprietor Roberto Conterno. The question of succession is always an issue in small, family-run wineries, but this is one example where the younger generation is building on past success by taking things to an entirely new level. I can only imagine how proud Giovanni Conterno would be if he could see (and taste!) the sublime wines that have emerged from this property in recent years...In 2007, Conterno’s Barbera officially carries the Cascina Francia vineyard designation to differentiate it from a new single-vineyard Barbera from the Cerretta vineyard the estate will release beginning with the 2008 vintage.” (10/2009)

“Good bright, deep ruby-red. Very ripe but lively aromas of black cherry and violet. Chewy, deep and supersweet, with a texture of liquid velvet to the flavors of cherry, raspberry and chocolate. As ripe as this is, it does not come off as porty. In fact, with its solid acid cut, this really captures the best traits of this vintage for barbera. Very long and suave on the aftertaste. (15+% alcohol, with 6.8 grams of acid and a pH of 3.45, according to Conterno)” (12/2009)