1999 | Bartolo Mascarello | Barolo

Aromas of leather, berry and tobacco follow through to a full-bodied palate, with sweet and ripe fruit, silky tannins and a long finish.

Reviews:

• John Gilman: While much of the hype on the most recent string of extraordinary vintages in Piemonte has justifiably focused on the 2001s and the 1996s, the 1999 vintage has also produced some brilliant young wines, and chief amongst these would be Bartolo Mascarello’s Barolo. There is already a seamless refinement to the ’99 on both the nose and palate that is extremely rare in traditionally-made Barolo, and which is very exciting for the ultimate shape of this wine at maturity. The very elegant young nose offers up a mélange of red and black cherries, roses, licorice, delicate undertones of tariness, woodsmoke and fresh herbs. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, pure and almost velvety for a young Bartolo, with great structure and focus, a brilliant core of sappy fruit, firm, ripe and well-integrated tannins, and great length and grip on the potentially silky finish. This is a brilliant wine in the making, that may well give both the 2001 and the 1996 a run for their money.

• Vinous: Bartolo Mascarello's 1998 Barolo is another of the more weightless, ethereal wines in the vintage. Sweet tobacco, earthiness, plums and prunes flow in a soft, elegant style. This is another Barolo that is simply delicious today, although readers seeking a more developed, tertiary experience may want to give the wine a few more years in bottle.

Producer Information

Bartolo Mascarello (officially known as Cantina Mascarello Bartolo) is a revered wine producer based in the town of Barolo in Piedmont, Italy. The estate was founded in 1918 and brought to prominence by the eponymous Bartolo Mascarello, who died in 2005. It is now run by his daughter Maria-Teresa Mascarello. The estate is particularly known for its traditionally-made Barolo wines. Indeed, much of Bartolo Mascarello's enduring reputation outside of his wines was forged around his staunch resistance to the so-called "modernisation" of winemaking in the Barolo region. At a time when many fashionable estates were turning to small, French oak barriques and shorter maceration times, Mascarello retained 30 to 50-day maceration and the traditional large-format Slavonian oak tuns, or "botti". As well as being a vocal opponent of the modern movement in the region, Mascarello also resisted the more recent fashion for single-vineyard releases. He was also known for his opposition to right-wing Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi, making headlines in the early 21st Century by releasing the "No barrique, no Berlusconi" labeled Barolo. "No Barrique, because I am against the use of barriques in Barolo – I am a traditional producer. No Berlusconi because I don’t like his type of politics," he told Decanter magazine in 2002. The label has gone on to become a collector's item. Mascarello's outspoken stances were nonetheless combined with much critical praise for his wines – the latter a record Maria-Teresa Mascarello has retained. Elegant and floral with great finesse, Mascarello wines continue to be considered among Barolo's greatest, and fetch some of the highest prices in the appellation. The estate itself covers just five hectares (12 acres) of vines, made up of small parcels in the Canubbi (one hectare/2.5 acres), San Lorenzo (0.25 hectares/0.6 acres) and Rué (0.25 hectares/0.6 acres) vineyards, and 1.2 hectares (three acres) in Rocche del Annunziata in La Morra. The lone Barolo label is a blend of these different crus. Cantina Bartolo Mascarello also makes some Dolcetto and Barbera wines as well as a Langhe Freisa and Langhe Nebiolo. The winemaking style remains very traditional, with vinification and maceration in old cement and wooden vats with no temperature control. The Barolo is aged in traditional 2500 litre Slavonian oak botti for three years, followed by 12 months in the bottle before release. Production is tiny with only around 1250 cases of Barolo produced each year. Cantina Mascarello Bartolo should not be confused with a number of other, relatively well-known, Mascarello wineries in the area.

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