Wine Advisor
Giuseppe Mascarello e Figlio, Barolo Monprivato 2007
View analysis
Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2007 Barolo Monprivato is flat-out stunning. Deep, powerful layered and totally impeccable, the 2007 possesses marvelous class and harmony. Readers will have a hard time choosing among the numerous great vintages that are on the market. My advice? Readers should own at least some of all of the wines from 2004-2007. I have made many mistakes with Monprivato over the years; they have all involved not cellaring enough of the great vintages. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2037. (Not yet released) Proprietor Mauro Mascarello is best known for his Baroli, but his entry-level wines also merit considerable attention. The wines are always released on the late side, so finding the time to review them can be a challenge, hence their inclusion in this issue. I also had a chance to taste Mascarello’s 2007 Baroli from cask and they are living up to the immense promise I sensed when I first sampled them a few years ago. Importers: Doug Polaner, Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY; tel. (914) 244-0404, The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484
Reviewed by: Antonio Galloni
The 2007 Barolo Monprivato is stunningly beautiful. Monprivato is seldom this rich when it is young. It is most often intensely aromatic, mid-weight and frequently out of balance, especially right after bottling. The 2007 is none of those things. It is a rich, dramatic wine endowed with tons of fruit and a sweeping, enveloping personality. It is also primary and at the beginning of what is likely to be a long, long life. Despite its seeming fragility, Monprivato is one of the most long-lived of all Baroli, even in its weakest vintages. The 2007 is spectacular, but it is very, very young and in need of significant cellaring to shed some its baby fat. Purists may prefer the 2006. I have not tasted both wines side by side from bottle, but 10 years from now it won’t matter. Readers will be thrilled to own either. In 2007 Mascarello opted not to bottle his Riserva Ca’ d’Morissio as he didn’t think there was a huge difference between the Riserva and the straight Monprivato. I guess we will never know for sure, although my barrel tastings have always suggested otherwise. In any event, savvy readers know what happens when there is no Ca’ d’Morissio in a good to great vintage. Recent examples include the 1999 and 2005. By now, its pretty clear the direction those wines have taken. Barolo lovers will not want to be without the 2007 Monprivato. It is a stratospheric Barolo in the making. Anticipated maturity: 2017-2037. This is a stellar showing from Mauro and Giuseppe Mascarello. The 2007 Baroli are stunning now that they are in bottle, but the Barberas are equally worthy of attention. As always, the style is very traditional, but in 2007 the steady warmth of the vintage has given the wines an extra dimension of fleshiness. The 2007 Monprivato in particular is shaping up to be another legendary Barolo from Mascarello. Importers: Doug Polaner, Polaner Selections, Mt. Kisco, NY; tel. (914) 244-0404, The Rare Wine Co., Sonoma, CA; tel. (707) 996-4484
About the Producer
History Since time immemorial Nebbiolo has been the most highly-prized vine and the wine-growing emblem of Alba and the Langa, and when it is matched with a great wine-making terroir it is capable of expressing itself at sublime levels in wines of remarkable personality, intense bouquet, great smooth tannins, and outstanding possibilities of evolution and resistance over time. The members of the Giuseppe Mascarello family have been growing wines for more than a century and a half, first as farmers running the Manescotto estate in the village of La Morra for the Marchesa Giulia Colbert Faletti di Barolo, and then on their own property since the late 1800s. MAURO MASCARELLO Mauro Mascarello first worked in the winery for many years alongside his father, before taking on the responsibility of running the cellar in Monchiero in 1967, when he also made his first wines. In 1970 he began to vinify the grapes grown on each single vineyard separately, starting with the MONPRIVATO Nebbiolo and then proceeding with the other vineyards. Upon the death of his uncle Natale in 1979, Mauro Mascarello purchased his company, re-uniting it into the Azienda Agricola Giuseppe Mascarello e Figlio. In 1980 he assumed direct responsibility for the family’s MONPRIVATO vineyard, continuing to run it with the same philosophy: application of the techniques that have always been followed to obtain the highest quality of “grape raw material” from every point of view. Famiglia Mascarello Mauro Mascarello's farm is now run with the help of his wife Maria Teresa on the accounts-administration side, and – though not yet full-time – his son Giuseppe, who qualified as a wine technician from the Agricultural and Enological Institute in Alba in 1994. In the years 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1990, a series of purchases completed the ownership of the MONPRIVATO vineyard, and Mauro Mascarello became the only producer of this Barolo cru. The Vineyards The Mascarello family property extends over 15 hectares of vineyards, all located within the Barolo wine-growing area. Some, like the MONPRIVATO vineyard, can now be said to be a part of the family history, while the grapes grown on others were first purchased by Mauro before – having had the opportunity to ascertain their quality – he managed to buy the vineyards for the estate. The Wine The fine wines grown on the Giuseppe Mascarello farm include – alongside Barolo MONPRIVATO – the following Barolos: Bricco, Villero, and Codana from vineyards in Castiglione Falletto, and Santo Stefano di Perno from vineyards in Monforte d’Alba.
