Aldo was (he died in 2012) the son of Giacomo Conterno, whose estate, under Aldo's nephew Roberto Conterno, continues to make the most sought-after Barolos. The wines are beautifully pure and quite fruit-expressive, but without... Read More

Aldo was (he died in 2012) the son of Giacomo Conterno, whose estate, under Aldo's nephew Roberto Conterno, continues to make the most sought-after Barolos. The wines are beautifully pure and quite fruit-expressive, but without any excess.

Aldo was always a believer in making Barolo “friendlier”, so he shortened macerations, switched to pump-overs, and quickly became thrown into the modernist camp. But because he never abandoned Slavonian oak casks, they wines have never had that new barrique “sheen” that so marks many modern Barolo. Today many people would describe this estate as mixing tradition and innovation – kind of how you could describe virtually all of the top estates, actually.

Bussia is where they (now Aldo’s sons) make all their wines, from a blend of different sub-Crus in Bussia – simply called Bussia – to the single-vineyard bottlings Colonello, Cicala and Romirasco, and the masterpiece Riserva Gran Bussia, which is again a blend but is 70% Romirasco.

Even die-hard traditionalists tend to admit that these are wines that are very easy to love.