Alessandro e Gian Natale Fantino

Two brothers farm eight hectares of old vines at Monforte d'Alba, in Piedmont's Barolo country. Their hill is Bussia, one of the zone's most famous names. Alessandro Fantino made the wine at Bartolo Mascarello, one of Barolo's most admired names, for twenty years before coming home. The estate's calling card is Laboro Disobedient, a Barolo Riserva bottled as plain red wine with a cartoon on its label. The oldest vines date from 1946 and 1947, and the wines rest for years in big, well-used oak casks.

Autumn fog over vineyards in the Langhe hills near Monforte d'Alba

About Alessandro e Gian Natale Fantino

Alessandro Fantino made the wine at Bartolo Mascarello for twenty years from 1978. It is one of the most admired names in all Barolo. In the late 1990s he sold his half of that cellar to Bartolo's daughter Maria Teresa and went home to Monforte d'Alba. There he joined his brother Gian Natale on the family vines full time.

Their land sits just north of the village, all inside Dardi, one corner of the famous Bussia cru. It adds up to about eleven football pitches of vines. The oldest of them went into the ground in 1946 and 1947. The winemaking is old school: long fermentations on the vineyard's own yeasts, then years of rest in big, well-used oak casks.

Their best-known bottle is also their most mischievous. The brothers were once late submitting their Barolo Riserva for classification. Rather than fight the system, they bottled the wine as plain vino rosso with a wink. The label carries a cartoon by the comics artist Sergio Staino, and the name says the rest: Laboro Disobedient. The wine inside has not changed: about five years in old casks, all Nebbiolo from their Dardi vines.

The straight-faced wines are Barolo Bussia Cascina Dardi and its Riserva, made only from their own fruit. Alongside sit a Barbera d'Alba Superiore and a younger-vine Nebbiolo called Rosso dei Dardi. The brothers also keep alive two Piedmont traditions now rarely made: Nebbiolo Passito and Barolo Chinato.

The estate offers no public tastings and its old website is offline. The wines travel through a few devoted merchants instead. Kermit Lynch imports them in the United States; Corney & Barrow lists Laboro in Britain. One warning for the shelf. Even their UK merchant files these wines under Conterno Fantino, a separate Monforte estate that happens to share the surname.

Editorial · ItalianWines.co.uk

Plate I · PIEDMONT

Alessandro e Gian Natale Fantino on the Piedmont wine atlas

Anchored in Langhe, the editorial heart of Piedmont.

Via Gioachino Silvano 18, 12065 Monforte d'Alba (CN)
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Via Gioachino Silvano 18, 12065 Monforte d'Alba (CN)

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  • Because the brothers were once late submitting their Barolo Riserva for its official classification. Rather than lose the wine, they bottled it as plain vino rosso, named it Laboro Disobedient and gave it a cartoon label by the comics artist Sergio Staino. The wine itself is Bussia Nebbiolo aged about five years in old casks.
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