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ProducerGiuseppe Mascarello
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Vintage2006
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Grape VarietyNebbiolo
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RegionItaly
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Sub RegionBarolo
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SizeBottle
Giuseppe Mascarello e Figlio surely ranks as one of Barolo’s finest producers. The family business dates back to 1881 & to Monforte d’Alba. Maurizio (Morissio) bought the Castiglione Falletto Monprivato vineyard in 1904, planting it with the Nebbiolo Michèt clone, before relocating the winery to Monchiero in 1919.
Son Giuseppe took over the business in 1923, abandoning the other family business of building materials to concentrate on wine. His son Mauro has been fine-tuning the estate since 1967, notably by lowering the yields, introducing a sorting table to ensure perfect bunches, and by releasing Monprivato as a single vineyard wine from 1970. Since 1996 he has been joined by his son Giuseppe, a wine technician. Mauro’s wife Maria Teresa looks after the books.
While the 12ha estate is dominated by vineyards in the commune of Castigilione Falletto, notably Monprivato at 6.20ha, in 1989 Mauro bought Santo Stefano, a single iron-rich vineyard in the Perno hamlet of Monforte d’Alba. All the wines are traditionally made using a combination of epoxy-lined cement & stainless-steel cuves, before being aged in large slavonian botte; capturing the vineyards’ full expression
96 Points Wine Advocate
Mascarello’s 2006 Barolo Monprivato is incredibly primary at this stage. The 2006 is an explosive Monprivato endowed with layers of ripe red fruit backed up by firm, muscular tannins that speak with great eloquence. I expect the 2006 to go through a period of stubbornness – as it often does – but it should begin to show well at around age ten or so. From time to time, the wine shows glimpses of its nobility. The 2006 is shaping up to be a profound Monprivato. The only thing it needs is time. This is a fabulous effort from Mascarello. Anticipated maturity: 2016-2036.