Gattinara DOCG 2017 Nervi Conterno

The Conterno Nervi 2017 Gattinara sources its fruit from the volcanic soils of various vineyard sites, including Molsino, Valferana, Garavogloe and Casacce. These sites sit at various elevations in the small valley of hills that surround the town of Gattinara near the Sesia River in an area of beautifully dramatic topography. But these hills also trap the rain, and abundant precipitation (thankfully, no frost or hail, though) was an issue here in Alto Piemonte, Roberto Conterno tells me, more so than in the Langhe that generally saw a hot and dry summer. He did not make the two cru expression in 2017, and all the fruit from those sites ended up in this bottling (or was otherwise sold off). Despite this prelude, I found this wine to be stable and saturated, both in terms of aromatic character and flavor. It shows dark currant and wild plum, with hints of dusty earth, grilled herb and cola. This harvest predates Roberto Conterno's acquisition of Nervi; however, he had played a background role at this historic winery for some years by this point. From that point of view, you start to see the meticulous work to achieve freshness and precision with this Nebbiolo-based wine.

The 2017 Gattinara is terrific. It will also give readers something to drink without waiting decades. In 2017, the Gattinara is a bit richer than it often is - the result of the warm dry year – but its profile is super-classic. Sweet pipe tobacco, mint, dried herbs, licorice, dried cherry and Alpine herbs fill out its ample frame effortlessly. I would give the 2017 a few years in bottle, but it won’t need more than that to start drinking well. In 2017, Roberto Conterno did not bottle his vineyard-designates. Instead, all the best lots went into the straight Gattinara, an overachieving wine that delivers the goods. I don’t expect the 2017 will be among the most long-lived wines here, but that will hardly be an issue for most readers.