1998 Barolo Monprivato

1998 has always been an interesting vintage for Barolo. Caught between the more hyped 1996 and 1997 on one end, and 2000 and 2001 on the other, the 1998s have often been overlooked. It also didn't help that the wines were first released during a period global economic malaise. While 1998 is not a truly iconic, legendary vintage, these Barolos are great choices for medium-term drinking as a number of wines are entering their early maturity, making them great choices for readers who are cellaring wines from Piedmont's sturdier vintages such as 1996, 1999 and 2001.

Piedmont experienced mostly warm weather in 1998 with spells of drought, though nowhere near the extremes seen in 1997. The wines have always been perfumed and accessible, with an attractive softness to the fruit. Even better, the vast majority of the wines have never shut down to the extent that wines from cooler vintages often do. The 1998s are extremely consistent across the board, and that level of outstanding quality may very well end up being the vintage's strongest attribute. As is typically the case, the Barolos of La Morra and Barolo are the most forward, while those of Serralunga are the freshest. Most of these wines were from my cellar, purchased and cellared since release, although I tasted a few of the wines a second time with the producers.

At a recent meeting of my local tasting group the focus was on the wines of Giuseppe Mascarello, one of Barolo's historic producers. For this event we were fortunate to have Mauro Mascarello as our guest. The focus of the evening was Mascarello's most famous wine, Monprivato, and his new luxury bottling the Riserva Ca' d'Morissio. Chef Silvano Fiorindo, a veteran of Cipriani in New York, Buenos Aires and his native Venice, prepared an exquisite meal to accompany the wines. Chef Fiorindo's menu started with a thinly sliced of carpaccio of sirloin. Seared on the outside and cooked perfectly to medium-rare in the center, it was an ideal dish with which to begin the dinner. He then prepared a zucchini risotto that paid homage to his Venetian roots in its style. That was followed by delicious sautéed veal cutlets served with shitake mushrooms, a dish that paired beautifully with our flight of Monprivatos from the 1980s. We finished with a selection of artisan cheesed with which we lingered over the final wines. It was a great evening of wine, food and conversation.

In May of this year I attended two very special tastings at Cru in New York. Winemakers Roberto Conterno and Mauro Mascarello were in town to present extensive verticals of their Barolos. The first tasting took place in the afternoon and featured current releases as well as a few older vintages. Although I generally avoid trade events because they don't allow enough time to accurately assess each wine, this sit-down tasting, which was hosted by importer Doug Polaner, was extremely well organized. Cru Wine Director Robert Bohr and his staff did an outstanding job in coordinating the service of the wines, which was no small feat. Between the afternoon tasting and the dinner that followed, I don't think I have ever tasted so many profound and emotionally moving wines in a single day! The wines were double decanted a few hours prior to serving.

Mauro Mascarello led the group though several flights of his most famous wine, Monprivato, as well as his newer Riserva bottling, Ca' d' Morissio. The Giuseppe Mascarello winery boasts a rich lineage that goes back to 1881 when Giuseppe Mascarello purchased his first plot of land in Monforte. His son Maurizio purchased vineyards in Monprivato in 1904 that remain the core of the family's holdings.

After having spent many years working at the estate with his father, Giuseppe II, Mauro Mascarello made his first wines in 1967. In 1970 Mauro began to vinify the grapes from his various vineyards separately. Although Mascarello defines the decade between 1968 and 1977 as one in which he experimented with various vinification techniques, today the wines are made in a very traditional manner. “There aren't many of us traditionalists left,” jokes Mascarello. Mauro has recently been joined in the winery by his son Giuseppe, ensuring that this estate's heritage will continue into the future.

The Monprivato vineyard, located in Castiglione Falletto, is one of the great sites in Piedmont. The Mascarello family has owned their plots, which measure just over six hectares, for over 100 years. Within Monprivato there had always been a special parcel from which Mascarello hoped to produce a riserva. In the mid-1980s Mascarello began a quest that would take him over four years to identify the best and most suitable clones of the Michet varietal to plant in the vineyard. The parcel was finally re-planted in 1988 and Mascarello named the new wine Ca' d'Morissio (house of Maurizio) in honor of his grandfather.

Both wines are traditionally made and see a long fermentation lasting between 18-25 days, depending on the vintage, and extended aging in Slavonian oak casks of about 36 months for the Monprivato and at least an additional 12 months for the Ca' d'Morissio.

The first vintage for Ca' d'Morissio was 1993, although just a few bottles were made, while full production began in 1995. Mascarello releases this wine only when he believes there is a noticeable difference in quality between Monprivato and Ca' d'Morissio. Other recent vintages include 1997 and the as yet unreleased 1996. There is no Ca' d'Morissio for vintages 1998-2000, although there is a 2001.

I continue to be charmed by Mauro Mascarello's superb Barolo Monprivato, from Castiglione Falletto, a scented, aromatically fascinating wine that's typically understated in its youth but shows a classical Barolo evolution with 10 or 15 years in the bottle. The Ca d'Morissio, from a portion of the Monprivato hillside replanted in 1988 with a selected clone of michet, may be even more perfumed than the "regular" Monprivato. Mascarello describes it as a more feminine style of wine, with more sweetness in its youth, but a couple of the vintages I tasted in September seemed especially penetrating and backward. The Ca d'Morissio is likely to become one of the region's stellar examples as the vines mature.Mascarello's favorite recent vintage remains the 1996; he allows that the following four vintages fall a bit short in structure and power. "Ninety ninety-seven is an elegant wine with decent structure," Mascarello told me, "while '98 is harmonious and nicely balanced. The '99s are round, elegant wines. Technical ripeness came early but real ripeness of polyphenols came later. So we had lots of alcohol without a huge structure. For many people, wood tannins had a tendency to dry these wines. Two thousand is a good year, not far off in style from 1999, but without great structure or aging potential."

Following my tasting of current and upcoming releases with the Mascarello family, Mauro Mascarello staged a vertical tasting of his great Barolo Monprivato, covering all of the great vintages back to 1970; I'll publish the results of this impressive vertical in an upcoming issue. Among Mascarello current wines, I was especially taken with the quality of his new Ca d'Morissio bottling, from Monprivato vines replanted in 1988 with a selected clone of michet. Thanks to the very low crop levels, I would never have guessed that the recent vintages of this wine (it has been made in '93, '95, '96 and '97) were from young vines. Interestingly, Mascarello prefers '97 and '96 for nebbiolo; he feels that '98 and '99, perhaps due to the larger crop levels, were less powerful and dense and therefore more successful for barbera and dolcetto.