DOCG Red

Giacomo Conterno Barolo Francia

Giacomo Conterno

Grape
Nebbiolo
Denomination
Barolo DOCG
Region
Piedmont
ABV
14.5%
Body
Medium to full

Giacomo Conterno's benchmark Barolo: 100% Nebbiolo from the Cascina Francia monopole in Serralunga d'Alba, aged four years in large oak botti. Tar, dried rose and red cherry over a powerful, age-worthy frame to cellar.

Best price
£242.00

2020 · 75cl · checked 13 Sep

Prices read daily from 4 UK retailers. We earn a commission on some links; it never changes the order.

Where to buy Barolo Francia Giacomo Conterno

£242.00 best price · 3 retailers in stock · checked 13 Sep 2026

Stock is shown where the retailer publishes it, offers are sorted by price, and unavailable offers can’t be clicked.

Corneyandbarrow Best price 2018 · Case of 6 · £25.77 per bottle · checked 13 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£154.59 £34.35/L
Corneyandbarrow Best price 2020 · Case of 6 · £29.43 per bottle · checked 13 Sep
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£176.59 £39.24/L
Corneyandbarrow Best price 2011 · Case of 6 · £30.38 per bottle · checked 13 Sep
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£182.29 £40.51/L
Corneyandbarrow Best price 2017 · Case of 6 · £30.74 per bottle · checked 13 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£184.43 £40.98/L
Corneyandbarrow Best price 2012 · Case of 6 · £30.74 per bottle · checked 13 Sep
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£184.44 £40.99/L
Corneyandbarrow Best price 2015 · Case of 6 · £33.72 per bottle · checked 13 Sep
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£202.29 £44.95/L
Corneyandbarrow Best price 2021 · Case of 6 · £38.10 per bottle · checked 13 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£228.59 £50.80/L
Corneyandbarrow Best price 2016 · Case of 6 · £39.07 per bottle · checked 13 Sep
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£234.43 £52.10/L
Vino Best price 2020 · 75cl · checked 13 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£242.00 £322.67/L
Corneyandbarrow Best price 2010 · Case of 6 · £49.07 per bottle · checked 10 Sep
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£294.44 £65.43/L
Corneyandbarrow Best price 2018 · Magnum 150cl · checked 13 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£320.27 £213.51/L
Hedonism Best price 2004 · 75cl · checked 3 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£365.00 £486.67/L
Hedonism Best price 1997 · 75cl · checked 3 Sep
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£385.00 £513.33/L
Corneyandbarrow Best price 2017 · Magnum 150cl · checked 13 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£488.86 £325.91/L
Vino Best price 2021 · Magnum 150cl · checked 13 Sep
Read from the retailer's page once a day. Confidence is low, so treat it as a guide and confirm at the retailer.
£641.00 £427.33/L
Unavailable (1)
Xtrawine Best price 2021 · 75cl · checked 12 Sep
Out of stock
£236.00 £314.67/L
Out of stock

Stock status is read from each retailer’s page once a day and may lag. Case and magnum listings show a per-bottle or per-litre equivalent and sit outside the best-price figure.

Tasting Notes

How Cascina Francia tastes: tar, rose and Serralunga grip

Drinkers on Vivino return to tar, leather and dried rose over red cherry, the signature of mature Serralunga Nebbiolo. This is Giacomo Conterno's traditional Barolo, fermented in untoasted Austrian oak and aged four years in large botti.

Tasted by
ItalianWines editorial (drinker consensus)
Tasted on
12 June 2026
Source
Drinker consensus · confidence Medium
Taste profile
Body Light / Full
Tannins Smooth / Grippy
Sweetness Dry / Sweet
Acidity Soft / Crisp
Nose

Mature Cascina Francia opens with tar, dried rose and leather over red cherry. That is the savoury Serralunga register Vivino drinkers return to across hundreds of ratings. Violet and a dusting of tobacco follow, classic Nebbiolo lifted by four years in large Austrian oak botti.

Rose petalRose petal
VioletViolet
CherryCherry
TobaccoTobacco
TarTar
Forest FloorForest Floor
LeatherLeather
LiquoriceLiquorice
Palate

Firm, fine-grained tannin and bright acidity frame red cherry and liquorice. They also frame a savoury, almost stony core off the limestone-rich Francia vineyard south of Serralunga d'Alba. The wine is powerful and structured at 14.5%. It shows the estate's long traditional soak on the skins rather than oak sweetness.

Finish

The finish is long and savoury. The Cascina Francia tannin grips through a tarry, dried-herb close that points to decades in the cellar.

Overall

Cascina Francia is one of Barolo's reference wines. Vivino drinkers rate the recent vintages 4.4 to 4.6 across hundreds of ratings. The 2016 sits in Vivino's top 1% worldwide. The wine is a traditional, age-worthy Serralunga Nebbiolo for the cellar, not a young pour.

Best by 2048
Live UK pricing

Buying Giacomo Conterno's Cascina Francia in the UK

A blue-chip Barolo only a handful of UK merchants stock. The vintages listed here run from the warm 2017 through to the 2020, every one 750ml of Nebbiolo from the Cascina Francia monopole in Serralunga d'Alba.

Best price · 75 cl £154.59 at corneyandbarrow
Price spread £154.59 - £641.00 Across 3 UK retailers tracked
Retailers tracked 3UK 15 in stock
Vintages live 2021 · 2020 · 2018 Current release: 2021
Per-litre (75 cl basis) £206.12 Per-litre price for the lowest current offer
Last checked 13 Sep 2026 Refreshed once every 24 hours
Wine fit score

Where Cascina Francia fits: a cellar and occasion Barolo

Built for the cellar and the table rather than a weeknight, this is a high-tannin Serralunga Barolo that scores for ageing and occasion over value, given its icon-level price from about 184 pounds.

Best for an occasion 9.5/10

A blue-chip, high-prestige Barolo from one of Piedmont's most revered estates, made for landmark occasions.

Best for cellar 9.4/10

Serralunga structure, DOCG ageing and four years in cask give 20 to 40 years of cellar potential, among the longest-lived Barolo.

Best with food 8.6/10

High-tannin, high-acid Nebbiolo is a benchmark partner for rich meat and Piedmontese cuisine, though it needs substantial food rather than light dishes.

Best value 4.0/10

Icon-priced from about 184 pounds, well above the Barolo category median, so value scores low despite the quality; you pay for the Conterno name and Serralunga monopole.

Best intro to this style 3.2/10

A classic indigenous Nebbiolo but austere, tannic and expensive; rewarding for experienced palates, not an easy first Barolo.

Best everyday bottle 1.0/10

Far too structured, age-demanding and costly for everyday drinking; this is a special-bottle wine.

Scoring is rule-based and deterministic. The model and weightings are documented in our Wine Fit Score methodology.

Denomination Compliance Snapshot

Barolo in five fields

A compact view of what the Barolo denomination actually requires, and how this bottle sits inside it. Pulled from the official Italian disciplinare.

Allowed grapes
1 varieties listed
This bottle: Nebbiolo.
Minimum ageing
38 months minimum
Of which 18 months in oak.
Region / area
Cuneo, Langhe: Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba, La Morra, Monforte d'Alba, Novello, Verduno, Grinzane Cavour, Diano d'Alba, Cherasco, Roddi
Source: Disciplinare.
Style
DOCG · Barolo
Minimum ABV at this colour: 13.0%.
Classification
DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita)
Vintages

2017, 2018 and 2020 Cascina Francia side by side

Three vintages sit together here: the riper, warmer 2017, the cooler and more classical 2018 that needs years to open, and the balanced 2020. Each is 100% Nebbiolo from the same Serralunga monopole.

2021 Current release
Lowest price
£228.59
Retailers
2 in stock
2020 Previous release
Lowest price
£176.59
Retailers
2 in stock
ABV
14.5%
Window
Ready from 2028 to 2046

A warm but balanced 2020 with ripe, perfumed fruit and good freshness, a touch more accessible in youth than the structured 2018 while still built to age.

2018 Previous release
Lowest price
£154.59
Retailers
2 in stock
ABV
14.5%
Window
Ready from 2027 to 2048

A cooler, classical 2018 with firm, edgy tannins that needs years to open; built for the long haul, give it well over a decade in the cellar.

2017 Previous release
Lowest price
£184.43
Retailers
2 in stock
ABV
14.5%
Window
Drink now through 2040

A hot, dry 2017 gave riper fruit and softer tannins than a classic Barolo year; Conterno's Serralunga site and traditional handling kept freshness, making this the most approachable of the three early.

Drink-now / hold guidance reflects general style cues for this wine, not a forecast for a specific bottle. Where vintage-level editorial notes exist, they appear above.

The disciplinare, the place, the label

Why Cascina Francia is a Serralunga benchmark

Giovanni Conterno bought the 14-hectare Cascina Francia vineyard in Serralunga d'Alba in 1974, and it has been the estate's monopole ever since. Roberto Conterno still works it in the strict traditional style, and the wine sets a bar critics measure other Barolo against.

01

DOC, DOCG, IGT: what the badges mean

Italian wine law sorts bottles into a pyramid. DOCG sits at the top: tightly drawn boundaries, prescribed grapes, mandatory ageing, government tasting before release. DOC is the same idea with looser thresholds. IGT (Indicazione Geografica Tipica) is broader still, requiring only that 85% of the grapes come from the named territory.

Barolo is in the DOCG tier. That is not a quality verdict, it is a description of how much freedom the producer has at vinification and ageing.

02

The denomination rules, in detail

  • Allowed grapes. 1 varieties listed in the disciplinare
  • Yield ceiling. 8.0 tonnes per hectare
  • Minimum ABV. 13.0% vol
  • Minimum ageing. 38 months total (of which 18 in oak)
  • Tasting panel. Mandatory pre-release tasting commission
03

Region and area context

Barolo falls within Piedmont, covering Cuneo, Langhe: Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Serralunga d'Alba, La Morra, Monforte d'Alba, Novello, Verduno, Grinzane Cavour, Diano d'Alba, Cherasco, Roddi. The denomination is further divided into 11 sub-zones.

Barolo DOCG zone The producer Wine route in the zone

Made at Giacomo Conterno, Monforte d'Alba. Directions

Wine route in the zone: Langhe Nebbiolo Route.

04

Reading the label

  • Giacomo ConternoProducer / estate
  • NebbioloGrape varieties
  • Barolo DOCGGeographic indication and quality tier
  • 2021Vintage (year of harvest)
  • Producer-declared ABV · 75 clAlcohol by volume and bottle size
  • Imbottigliato all’origineEstate-bottled
05

What sits behind the price of Barolo Francia Giacomo Conterno

Tracked from
£154.59
Direction
Mostly cost up
Drivers
4 up / 1 down
Main factor
Cascina Francia monopole, Serralunga d'Alba
  1. 01

    Cascina Francia monopole, Serralunga d'Alba

    Cost up

    Single-vineyard Nebbiolo from a 14-hectare monopole the estate has owned since 1974; estate Serralunga fruit commands far more than blended Barolo.

  2. 02

    Four years ageing in large oak botti

    Cost up

    The wine rests in large casks for 48 months before bottling, tying up capital and cellar space long before a single bottle is sold.

  3. 03

    Long maceration in untoasted Austrian oak

    Cost up

    Hand-harvested fruit and macerations up to 30 days in untoasted Austrian oak vats are labour and time intensive versus a modern, faster cuvee.

  4. 04

    Giacomo Conterno collector demand

    Cost up

    Giacomo Conterno is a blue-chip Barolo name; UK merchant prices for current Cascina Francia vintages here run from about 184 pounds.

  5. 05

    Old botti, no new barrique

    Cost down

    Cascina Francia ages in large neutral botti reused for years, so per-bottle oak cost is far lower than for Barolo matured in new French barriques.

01

Cascina Francia monopole, Serralunga d'Alba

Cost up

Single-vineyard Nebbiolo from a 14-hectare monopole the estate has owned since 1974; estate Serralunga fruit commands far more than blended Barolo.

Perfect Pairings

Dishes that go with this wine

Food Pairing

Nebbiolo tannin and tar: dishes that fit this Barolo

High tannin, bright acidity and savoury tar and truffle aromatics point to rich, slow-cooked meat and Piedmontese earth. Brasato al Barolo is the home match; mature Nebbiolo also loves truffle risotto and game.

Tannin softening Strong match

Slow-braised beef softens Nebbiolo tannin

Cascina Francia's firm Nebbiolo tannin needs the collagen and fat of long-braised red meat; the gelatine coats the palate so the grip reads as velvet, while the wine's Serralunga acidity lifts the richness.

Try with: Beef stew · Lamb shank · Rack of lamb · More pairings →

Body matching Strong match

Serralunga power for game and the Sunday roast

This is one of Barolo's most powerful, structured profiles, built on Serralunga d'Alba fruit; it stands up to gamey venison and a full roast where a lighter red would simply disappear.

Try with: Venison Stew · Sunday Roast Beef · Beef Wellington · More pairings →

Aromatic bridge Strong match

Tar, truffle and porcini on one plate

With age the wine turns to tar, dried rose and truffle, the earthy notes Vivino drinkers flag most; those savoury aromatics mirror Piedmont's porcini and white-truffle dishes.

Try with: Brasato al Barolo · Truffle risotto · Porcini mushroom risotto · More pairings →

Fat cutting Good match

Acidity through hard, aged cheese

Nebbiolo keeps bright acidity beneath the tannin; it cuts hard Alpine and Piedmontese cheeses such as aged Castelmagno and Parmigiano, refreshing the palate between bites.

Try with: Cheese board · Aged Parmigiano · Castelmagno · More pairings →

Acidity matching Good match

A match for its own braising sauce

The acidity that lets this Barolo age also makes it the natural partner for brasato al Barolo, where the beef is braised in Nebbiolo; wine and sauce share the same savoury backbone.

Try with: Brasato al Barolo · Agnolotti del plin · Tajarin with ragù · More pairings →

Avoid Clash

Skip fiery heat and oily fish

At 14.5% with grippy tannin, this Barolo amplifies chilli burn and turns metallic against oily or raw fish; keep it away from vindaloo, fierce Sichuan heat and sushi.

Skip with: Vindaloo · Szechuan beef · Sushi · Grilled mackerel · Pairing guide →

Drinking + cellar

Cellaring Cascina Francia: a multi-decade Barolo

Serralunga structure and four years in cask make this a wine to keep. The classical 2018 is built to run several decades, and even the warmer 2017 rewards a decade or more in the cellar before the tannin settles.

Decanting
h1

A short splash decant softens the first-pour edge and opens the aromatics.

Cellar potential
High

Serralunga structure, DOCG ageing and four years in cask give 20 to 40 years of cellar potential, among the longest-lived Barolo.

Buy now or wait?
Buy now

£154.59 is the lowest tracked offer for the current vintage and we have no signal of further discounting.

Sources & trust

Sources behind this Cascina Francia page

Prices & stock

Read directly from each retailer’s public product page once a day. Last refresh: 13 Sep 2026, 01:32 BST. We do not hold stock and we do not accept payment for placement.

Confidence · High
Tasting notes

Drawn from what drinkers consistently report on Vivino and Wine-Searcher, summarised in our own words. A crowd read across many tasters, not a single critic.

Confidence · Medium
Appellation rules & ageing

From the official Italian disciplinare for this denomination, cross-checked against the Ministry of Agriculture register.

Confidence · High
Why it costs what it costs

Our reading of the price, drawn from the disciplinare, public UK duty rates, and typical landed-cost benchmarks. Not a quote from the producer or a retailer.

Confidence · Medium
Drink window & cellar potential

Style guidance for this kind of wine at this price point. Treat it as advice, not a forecast for the bottle in your hand.

Confidence · Medium
Related

Giacomo Conterno, Nebbiolo and Barolo connections

Common Questions

It is the estate's traditional Barolo, 100% Nebbiolo from the Cascina Francia vineyard, a monopole in Serralunga d'Alba that Giovanni Conterno bought in 1974. It is aged four years in large oak casks.

Both originate in the Francia vineyard. Cascina Francia is the regular Barolo, made in every good vintage; Monfortino is the Riserva, made only in exceptional years with longer maceration and around six to seven years in cask.

Give them time. The cooler, classical 2018 needs the longest and rewards a decade or more; the warmer 2017 is a little more approachable; the balanced 2020 will drink well from the late 2020s.

Rich, slow-cooked meat and Piedmontese earth: brasato al Barolo, game such as venison, truffle and porcini risotto, and hard aged cheese. Its tannin and acidity cut through fat and protein.

Tiny production from a single Serralunga monopole, four years of cask ageing before release, and Giacomo Conterno's blue-chip reputation push prices above most Barolo, with UK bottles here from about 184 pounds.

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Barolo Francia Giacomo Conterno
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