A & G Fantino, Cascina Dardi Barolo 2013

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

For those of you who don’t know Bartolo-Mascarello, you should know that hard-core lover’s of Nebbiolo have been known to offer their first born for a few bottles of their wine. Drinking a vertical of Bartolo-Mascarello has been one of the highlights of my wine life! Alessandro left Bartolo-Mascarello in 1997 taking the reigns at the 8ha A & G Fantino with his brother. His wines are loaded with personality, coming from vineyards in Bussia, they have an elegance and finesse about them, with incredible supple tannins. So much intrigue and yumminess.

Check out the Wine Bite Mag about Bartolo Mascarello for a little bit of insight into just how immersed in wine these guys are!

What a thrill it is to taste these wines from brothers Alessandro and Gian Natale Fantino. The Fantinos work out of a tiny cellar in Monforte’s old, historic center. Alessandro Fantino spent twenty years working alongside Bartolo Mascarello, where he made the wines and managed the vineyards. In 1998, as Maria-Theresa Mascarello was becoming increasingly involved in the family business, Alessandro Fantino returned to his own estate…I am often asked who the up and coming producers are in Barolo. Alessandro and Gian Natale Fantino are among them. Antonio Galloni, Vinous Media

The brothers own eight hectares in the heart of the historic Bussia cru north of Monforte, one of Barolo’s most famous areas for producing wines of great longevity and finesse.  Aldo Conterno’s three vineyards are in Bussia! The Fantino holdings are concentrated exclusively in the “Dardi” section of Bussia, a hillside with perfect southeastern exposure in the geographic center of Bussia. This gives them their “Cascina Dardi” brand name on the label of their Barbera and Baroli.

Barolos from Bussia tend to have deep color and rich fruit and while they don’t lack the classic tannic structure of Nebbiolo from this part of the world, they are not nearly as hard as the Barolos from the southside of Monforte or from Serralunga. This fact does not preclude the Fantino Baroli from aging but makes them delightfully approachable relatively young. The Fantinos are also blessed with some of the oldest vines in the entire Barolo zone, thanks to the fastidious care given to them by Alessandro and Gian Natale. Planted in 1946 and 1947 and pruned in an old style that is very labor intensive, they produce grapes that would be the envy of any Barolista.