For whatever reason, the last couple of bottles of the 1964 Barolo Normale from Giovanni Conterno that I have crossed paths with have been in the very good, but not great camp. Ironically, half a dozen years ago, I had a small pile of bottles of the 1964, all of which were in splendid shape and superior to the most recent bottles I have tasted. As is so often mentioned, when one is buying bottles at this age, particularly in the realm of Barolo, it is luck of the draw on how older bottles were stored. In any event, this bottle was very good and better than the last one I wrote up back in October of 2010, as it offered up a bit more vibrancy than the last bottle, but still not the profound depth and purity of my earlier cache. The bouquet is a lovely and quite ready blend of desiccated cherries, gamebird, road tar, forest floor, oregano and lovely spice tones in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, long and tangy, with fine mid-palate concentration, modest tannins and lovely length and grip on the fairly tarry finish.