Mascarello, Bartolo
April 2023 visit
Bartolo Mascarello
New version of Freisa
Is still now, due to market forces
2020 Bartolo Mascarello Freisa
First year as a still wine.
Deep and earthy, lilac florals, violets, white soil, mineral water, a bit of talc and a touch of rose. On the palate there is dark, jammy currant fruit, lightly tannic, crunchy, beautiful fruit, lively, very up and down in the mouth dynamic, good length, very mineral finish, blue fruit finish then mineral earth, then quite long, lovely wine. 91pts
2020 Bartolo Mascarello Langhe Nebbiolo
Buys Nebbiolo grapes from Barbaresco 22 months in wood, from San Rocco Seno d’Elvio
Very tight small red berry fruits, so delicate and nuanced, there’s a warm undertone here, a gentle sweetness to the fruit and a base of wild blueberry and lime leaf. Transparent, lightly fruity, firm, long, bright, such red fruit and vibrancy, very perfumed with hints of mushroom and a touch of pomegranate. 91pts
2018 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo 14.5%
45-47 days skin contact
Very perfumed if very 2018 with lots of sticks and lemon peel, tea, artichoke, smoky, a bit of peat, rosehips, rooibos tea. Has some flesh to it up front, ripe tannins, a bit chewy, lacks some fruit, emerges a bit on the finish, slightly jammy low key raspberry and red currant tinged. A little ash, very pleasant wine, showing pleasant signs of early maturity, lots of juicy red fruit, delicate and gauzy, tannins are softening. 91pts
2019 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo
Cooler more structured, more freshness, more classical
Cooler, delicate color, delicate aromas, a hint of coffee cream, fleshy, not terribly fruity, briar, there’s lovely richness here, purity delicacy and transparency to the fruit, tight, a bit short, great finesse, rolls slowly cross the palate with waves of, that delicate pure fruit, it’s Burgundian in its effortlessness and ephemeralness, raspberry finish. Turns to wild cherry on the sneaky long finish 94pts
Bartolo Mascarello
New version of Freisa
Is still now, due to market forces
2020 Bartolo Mascarello Freisa
First year as a still wine.
Deep and earthy, lilac florals, violets, white soil, mineral water, a bit of talc and a touch of rose. On the palate there is dark, jammy currant fruit, lightly tannic, crunchy, beautiful fruit, lively, very up and down in the mouth dynamic, good length, very mineral finish, blue fruit finish then mineral earth, then quite long, lovely wine. 91pts
2020 Bartolo Mascarello Langhe Nebbiolo
Buys Nebbiolo grapes from Barbaresco 22 months in wood, from San Rocco Seno d’Elvio
Very tight small red berry fruits, so delicate and nuanced, there’s a warm undertone here, a gentle sweetness to the fruit and a base of wild blueberry and lime leaf. Transparent, lightly fruity, firm, long, bright, such red fruit and vibrancy, very perfumed with hints of mushroom and a touch of pomegranate. 91pts
2018 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo 14.5%
45-47 days skin contact
Very perfumed if very 2018 with lots of sticks and lemon peel, tea, artichoke, smoky, a bit of peat, rosehips, rooibos tea. Has some flesh to it up front, ripe tannins, a bit chewy, lacks some fruit, emerges a bit on the finish, slightly jammy low key raspberry and red currant tinged. A little ash, very pleasant wine, showing pleasant signs of early maturity, lots of juicy red fruit, delicate and gauzy, tannins are softening. 91pts
2019 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo
Cooler more structured, more freshness, more classical
Cooler, delicate color, delicate aromas, a hint of coffee cream, fleshy, not terribly fruity, briar, there’s lovely richness here, purity delicacy and transparency to the fruit, tight, a bit short, great finesse, rolls slowly cross the palate with waves of, that delicate pure fruit, it’s Burgundian in its effortlessness and ephemeralness, raspberry finish. Turns to wild cherry on the sneaky long finish 94pts
2014 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo Tasted 5/2019
Very fruity nose with hints of hazelnut and some soil, leather,pencil shavings, and jasmine components with a subtle suggestion of wood. Bright, juicy, though a touch clumsy with the firm tannins sticking out: nutty tannins. Good fruit, a lovely example of the vintage but very young and without the benefit of significant flesh buffering the structure. It’s actually both lively and pretty with lovely minerality but its very raw and verging on dominated by the structure tonight so it’s not particularly fun to drink. A crude and uneven. Had I not had a better experience with this last year I would be more sceptical than I am, though this looks like it will require significant time for the structural elements to harmonize. 88pts
Very fruity nose with hints of hazelnut and some soil, leather,pencil shavings, and jasmine components with a subtle suggestion of wood. Bright, juicy, though a touch clumsy with the firm tannins sticking out: nutty tannins. Good fruit, a lovely example of the vintage but very young and without the benefit of significant flesh buffering the structure. It’s actually both lively and pretty with lovely minerality but its very raw and verging on dominated by the structure tonight so it’s not particularly fun to drink. A crude and uneven. Had I not had a better experience with this last year I would be more sceptical than I am, though this looks like it will require significant time for the structural elements to harmonize. 88pts
In 1951 Giulio traded a piece of Terlo for the Cannubi, Terlo was dolcetto, two years ago uprooted San Lorenzo, replanting it this year, were 75-80 years old, found 2000 square meters in Monrobiolo to replace that production, half hectare of dolcetto, quarter freisa.
San Lorenzo was sandy and southwest facing, high toned perfume and midpalate richness, monrobiolo is also southwest facing, with lighter soil so should be similar to San Lorenzo
Replant massale selection, first 6-7 years into Nebbiolo,
2015 7 week above 38 3 weeks above 40.
14th of August, three days of thunderstorms that broke heat, cool spring, cool fall, brutally hot summer
July 14 26 days of rain, halved the production
Sept and and October was great, 30 days, hail took out one third of their production
2016 two weeks of real heat, moderate year, long slow harvest,
2015 Bartolo Mascarello Dolcetto 14%
Wow this is sweet in a wild cherry and foxy grape register with bitter almond notes adding accents to the slightly tarry and dark nose. Sweet yet serious, this is intense stuff, really palate staining but not heavy, perfumed in the mouth, bright, juicy, and long, with mineral inflected, liquory, incredibly bright fruit but at the same time the terroir signature here is incredibly vibrant. As good as Dolcetto gets in an intense and fruity style. 94pts
2013 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo 14%
Maceration was 56 days 2010, 2013 28 days on the skins, 2015 43 days, 2014 25 days, both 13 and 14 had really delicate skins
Tight, reticent and pure on the nose, this has a core of ripe fruit but shows more violet and fennel at the moment with ginseng and nuanced savory aromas, a touch of an herbal basenote. The richness, the purity, this is profound, such elegance, with tannins that are fine grained yet firm, so red fruited, so long, this is off the charts, there's a candied note, mineral laced, wild cherry nuanced fruit, haunting length, so young but so much promise, OMG wine, this really is stunning. Wine of the vintage. 97pts
San Lorenzo was sandy and southwest facing, high toned perfume and midpalate richness, monrobiolo is also southwest facing, with lighter soil so should be similar to San Lorenzo
Replant massale selection, first 6-7 years into Nebbiolo,
2015 7 week above 38 3 weeks above 40.
14th of August, three days of thunderstorms that broke heat, cool spring, cool fall, brutally hot summer
July 14 26 days of rain, halved the production
Sept and and October was great, 30 days, hail took out one third of their production
2016 two weeks of real heat, moderate year, long slow harvest,
2015 Bartolo Mascarello Dolcetto 14%
Wow this is sweet in a wild cherry and foxy grape register with bitter almond notes adding accents to the slightly tarry and dark nose. Sweet yet serious, this is intense stuff, really palate staining but not heavy, perfumed in the mouth, bright, juicy, and long, with mineral inflected, liquory, incredibly bright fruit but at the same time the terroir signature here is incredibly vibrant. As good as Dolcetto gets in an intense and fruity style. 94pts
2013 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo 14%
Maceration was 56 days 2010, 2013 28 days on the skins, 2015 43 days, 2014 25 days, both 13 and 14 had really delicate skins
Tight, reticent and pure on the nose, this has a core of ripe fruit but shows more violet and fennel at the moment with ginseng and nuanced savory aromas, a touch of an herbal basenote. The richness, the purity, this is profound, such elegance, with tannins that are fine grained yet firm, so red fruited, so long, this is off the charts, there's a candied note, mineral laced, wild cherry nuanced fruit, haunting length, so young but so much promise, OMG wine, this really is stunning. Wine of the vintage. 97pts