2020 Diego Conterno Barolo del Comune di Monforte d’Alba

Diego Conterno is old-school Barolo royalty with modern swagger. After co-founding Conterno-Fantino in the early ’80s, he stepped away around 2000 to reclaim a purer, more transparent expression of Nebbiolo—holding tight to his family’s prized vines in the legendary Ginestra cru. Though the winery officially began between 2000 and 2003, its roots run deeper: Diego had already spent two decades crafting wine alongside his cousins Claudio Conterno and Guido Fantino before setting out on his own.

Today, Diego and his son Stefano organically farm roughly 20 acres in Monforte d’Alba, cultivating Nebbiolo, Barbera, Dolcetto, and Nascetta. The estate has been farmed organically since 2006, with increasing use of biodynamic methods; by 2017 the wines earned full organic certification, and since the 2019 vintage, they proudly carry DEMETER biodynamic status—a testament to purity, intention, and place.

The Comune di Monforte designation highlights Barolo sourced entirely from a single village. Here, the fruit comes from older vines in Pajana (within Ginestra) and Gris on Monforte’s eastern slopes—prime hillside terroir that delivers depth, tension, and unmistakable Monforte character.

Barolo is always 100% Nebbiolo—a pale-skinned grape with towering tannins, vibrant acidity, and the power that defines Italy’s greatest reds. Diego’s style favors elegance over excess, choosing finesse and transparency over heavy new oak.

His Barolo blends fruit from three vineyards in Monforte facing west, southwest, and southeast at 320–380 meters, with vines aged 10, 20, and 32 years rooted in clay, sand, and calcareous marl—the classic soils that shape Nebbiolo into something profound and long-lived.

"I was deeply impressed with the 2020 Barolos from Diego Conterno… the wines show notable depth and dynamic energy that satisfy both intellectual and hedonistic desires… These typically firm, classically built Barolos are not quite as tannic as in the past, but they have baby fat that will melt away with time in bottle." ~Antonio Galloni