Conterno Cantine Nervi - Gattinara Valferana 2018 (750ml)
Vinous: 96 Points
The 2018 Gattinara Valferana is explosive right out of the glass. Supporting veins of tannin carry a core of red fruit cinnamon rose petal blood orange mint and white pepper. The Valferana is complex and wonderfully deep from start to finish. Valferana is the cooler of the two single vineyard Gattinaras that are bottled separately here. The 2018 is a special wine. - By Antonio Galloni on March 2022 I fully expected that Roberto Conterno would elevate quality at Nervi upon his acquisition of the winery in 2018. What I did not expect was that the change would happen so fast and that the makeover would be so extreme. A historic estate Nervi had fallen on rough times in which quality was all over the place. Before his acquisition Conterno had started consulting on an informal basis for the former owners so he had a running start. Even so the investments here have been considerable and include a new winery and a state of the art bottling line which means Conterno owns two more of these gleaming machines than most wineries around the world. It was not that long ago that Conterno answered all phone calls himself at the family winery in Monforte. Since then he has elevated the wines at two estates through passion conviction and relentless drive. Just as impressively though Conterno has built a strong team to execute on his vision. The importance of that can?t possibly be overstated. As for the 2018 Gattinaras they are special wines that very much merit your consideration.
vWine Advocate: 95 Points
As all Nebbiolo lovers know well this mighty Piedmont grape is especially sensitive to place. That's the main takeaway with the Conterno Nervi 2018 Gattinara Vigna Valferana. This is a west-facing vineyard at 300 to 350 meters in altitude that is characterized by volcanic soils and slightly cooler conditions resulting in an etched and very focused expression of Nebbiolo (as opposed to Molsino that tends to be open-knit and more concentrated). Valferana is tightly chiseled and crisp with blue flower sour cherry tobacco smoke underbrush and candied orange peel. The wine offers a complete picture of the grape from Gattinara with some extra tannic edge to carry it through the years. In keeping with the evolution of this producer I had changed the brand name from Nervi to Nervi Conterno to reflect what you see on the newly redesigned front labels of the new releases. Starting with the 2018 vintage the name is once again modified as Conterno Nervi (switching the two words) and I have once again recorded this change in our database. All the wines in this report fall under the header Conterno Nervi although the older vintages still read just Nervi or Nervi with the name Conterno in smaller print on the front label. This progressive graphic evolution falls in step with the production control gained by Roberto Conterno in the immediate vintages following his acquisition of Nervi. I tasted the two cru expressions Vigne Molsino and Valferana before their commercial release during my visit to the winery in Gattinara this past summer. The big news is the addition of a new rosé sparkling wine that you will find reviewed here for the first time. Published: Nov 30 2021
