Winemaker Notes
The grapes used to make Il Favot come from vineyards which have undergone periodical implantations, and have a maximum age of 15 years. The skin soaking is limited to 6-8 days so as to extract few tannins and more color from the skins themselves, with the result of getting a well-colored wine with a remarkable softness.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
A beautiful wine with a chocolate, lemon and orange character on the nose and palate. Full body, delicious fruit and a long, long finish. This is very serious.
-
Decanter
Charming raspberry nose. Sleek yet concentrated too, showing freshness and flair. Quite approachable, yet has depth and bite. Long. Drinking Window 2018 - 2026
-
Wine Spectator
Offering a mix of cherry, berry, tobacco, green olive and eucalyptus aromas and flavors, this is harmonious but still needs time to tame its youthful exuberance. Drink now through 2024. 800 cases made, 150 cases imported.
The story of Poderi Aldo Conterno, one of the elite, historic Barolo producers, is a tale of great passion for winemaking that winds back across generations and crosses international borders. While the Langhe Rosso, Chardonnay “Bussiador”, Barbera d’Alba “Conca Tre Pile” and Nebbiolo “Favot” represent a nod to modern winemaking techniques, the Barolo wines remain firmly in the traditionalist camp, aged in large Slavonian-oak botte before bottling. Only indigenous yeasts and traditional fermenting techniques are used. These are clean, polished and ethereal wines of great elegance that are guaranteed to offer years of sublime drinking while being terrific collector’s items.
Over the past decade, the estate has worked hard to ensure their place among the pantheon of hallowed Barolo producers, decreasing production by well over 50% through extreme triage in the vineyards: their harvest teams threatened mutiny at first over bunches that would normally have been harvested but that Conterno knew would be better to cut early to favor optimal development in the remaining bunches. The results of this rigorous approach have already been noticed and highly praised by the international press. The wines are remarkably approachable, characterized by particularly sweet fruit in their youth, as well as spice and vanilla notes. These are clean, polished and ethereal wines of great elegance that are guaranteed to offer years of sublime drinking while being terrific collector’s items. lity.
Attracting the most glory, prestige and fame to the Piedmont region, Nebbiolo in all of its expressions—Barolo, Barbaresco, Roero, Ghemme and Gattinara—creates a complex wine, truly unique for its delicate qualities combined with strength and a great potential to improve over time.
But Nebbiolo isn’t all there is to red wine from Piedmont! Barbera is the most planted variety and historically most popular as a dependable, food-friendly, everyday wine.
Beyond these two, a surprising number of red varieties call Piedmont their home. Worth a try include Dolcetto for its bold concentration and aromas of spice cake. Other grapes to investigate include Freisa, Croatina, Brachetto, Grignolino and Pelaverga.
