Tasting Notes: This rare bottle of 1971 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo is bottled in the 1.9L format, used by the winery up until 1980. Condition is perfect, photo provided is of the actual bottle.
Estate History: The Cantina Bartolo Mascarello is one of the legendary and historic producers of the Barolo appellation. The winery has stood as a beacon of staunch Barolo traditionalism since its official inception in 1918. The roots of the estate go back further, to the 19th century when the Mascarello family produced grapes which they sold to large wine producing houses in the nearby township of Bra. At around the turn of the century, though, a dozen or so producers including Bartolomeo Mascarello – Bartolo’s grandfather - established a much smaller entity, called the ‘Barolo Co-operative Winery’, and Bartolomeo became the cellar master there. Eventually, the Co-Operative closed, and Bartolo’s father, Giulio, just back from fighting in World War I, decided to take the plunge and produce some wine under his own label, a true rarity for that era. Although some of the wine was sold as actual bottles, much of the production was sold in demi-johns to restaurants and other consumers who undertook the bottling of the wine on their own.
Over time, the estate acquired small parcels of choice vineyards in the communes of Barolo and La Morra. The winery was later passed onto Giulio’s son, Bartolo, in the 1960’s where they worked in tandem until Giulio’s death in 1981. Over that period, the winery began to gain more prominence. When Bartolo died in 2005, the baton was passed then to his only child, Maria Teresa. Today, Maria Teresa produces Barolo along with tiny amounts of Dolcetto, Barbera, Freisa and Langhe Nebiolo, and routinely sells out of each wine quickly. The wines are spectacular and singular expressions of Traditional Nebbiolo. Classic in all senses, structurally, aromatically, and in their long cellaring capacity. In recent years, under the meticulous hand of Maria Teresa, some say the wines have gained another level of finesse and balance.
