Barolo 2005s at 10 years old

The 2005 vintage in Barolo is not considered great by any stretch of the imagination, but when tasting some 30 wines of this vintage last May, I was surprised by how good most of them still were. While the default description of 2005 is ‘a washed-out vintage’, I always remember that Robert Conterno of the Giacomo Conterno estate considered 2005 to be a great vintage, contrary to popular belief. His 2005 Monfortino, a Riserva wine designated for very long ageing and produced only in exceptional vintages, proves he wasn’t bluffing. 

Conterno’s success was mostly due to the fact that...