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
95 Points Robert Parker Wine Advocate
These wines from Mauro Mascarello and his family all need more time to open, but rest assured they are heading down the right path. Like the others, the 2013 Barolo Monprivato is taking its sweet time. The wine opens to a brilliant ruby hue. This beautiful color intensity and even tonality is very characteristic of this cooler vintage. The wine is still on the nervous side, with tight tannins and cooling acidity. But it is also very elegant and fine in terms of its aromatic output. It will gain more volume and intensity with time. My score seeks to underline where this wine will be in a decade or more.
97 Points Kerin O’Keefe
Elegant and fragrant, this radiant wine opens with classic Nebbiolo aromas of forest floor, crushed herb, dried rose, wild berry and a whiff of new leather. The focused, ethereal palate sneaks up on you, offering red cherry, spiced cranberry, wild strawberry and licorice alongside firm, ultra-refined tannins. Bright acidity lends balance, energy and tension. It’s still youthfully austere so give it time to develop even more complexity.