Bartolo Mascarello Retrospective: 1958-2010
BY ANTONIO GALLONI |
This retrospective tasting of 18 vintages of Bartolo Mascarello Barolos provided a great opportunity to revisit a number of historic vintages and also check in on some of the recent releases that have helped catapult this small, family-run estate into Piedmont’s upper echelon.
The Bartolo Mascarello vertical was the first part of a London double-header that continued the following day with an equally memorable vertical of Soldera Brunellos. On this night, we gathered at 28° 50° Wine Workshop & Kitchen’s Maddox Street location in central London. The downstairs room was quite intimate, although frankly a bit loud and dark for my own taste. I thought the food was quite good and very wine-friendly, while the portions were more than abundant for an evening in which most of the glasses were emptied. The kitchen did a very nice job, which is never an easy task for a group such as this one.
" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1479854052909-setup+copy.jpg">
We opened the wines a few hours ahead of service and double decanted for sediment, which many of the older wines had. Naturally, choosing the vintages to show at an event like this one is never easy. In a perfect world, I would have loved to include the 1985, 1982, 1978 and 1964, among others. But even in the best of cases, provenance is very hard to guarantee with older wines and expectations are rightfully very high at Vinous events, so I chose a set of vintages that offered the best odds of success. All of the wines from 1988 through 2010 were purchased on release from the winery and stored in one cellar with one previous owner. The 1986 and 1958 magnums were purchased directly from the winery.
Nestled just off Via Roma in the heart of the village of Barolo, Cantina Bartolo Mascarello remains a bastion of traditional, artisan values in Piedmont. Giulio Mascarello founded Cantina Mascarello in 1920. His son, Bartolo, started working in the winery in the 1960s. For the last period of his life, Bartolo Mascarello was confined to a wheelchair, but that never seemed to diminish his zest for life or passion for the issues that were near and dear to his heart. Mascarello spent his time overseeing the estate, designing the artist labels that have since become so coveted and writing on his favorite subjects. I have lost track of how many afternoons I spent in Mascarello’s office over the years talking about wine, politics and anything else that was on his mind, but the visits were always memorable.
Maria Teresa Mascarello
In the mid 1990s, Mascarello’s daughter, Maria Teresa, took on an increasing role in the family winery. Since then, Maria Teresa Mascarello has taken the estate to the very pinnacle of excellence, and frankly, to a level never previously seen here. Mascarello has built a world-class team around her and made subtle, but meaningful improvements, such as changing out old barrels, that have had significant positive effects on quality. A shy, reclusive grower, Maria Teresa Mascarello was not at this tasting, but her spirit was very much present in the wines.
This retrospective tasting of 18 vintages of Bartolo Mascarello Barolos provided a great opportunity to revisit a number of historic vintages and also check in on some of the recent releases that have helped catapult this small, family-run estate into Piedmont’s upper echelon.
