Giuseppe Mascarello - Barolo Riserva Monprivato Ca d'Morissio 2013 (1.5L)
Wine Advocate: 97 Points
This wine has been resting quietly in bottle since 2018 while getting ready for its release which should be within the next month or two. The 2013 Barolo Monprivato Riserva Cà d'Morissio benefits from a long and slow growing season just what the late-ripening Nebbiolo grape likes best. This wine delivers rich volume and a fine texture with a pretty point of fresh acidity that is neatly buried behind bright fruit tones of cassis dried cherry and rose hip. Earthy tones are woven within and the wine shows slightly spicy highlights of licorice and tar that point to some of the subtle bottle evolution already underway. Generally speaking the fruit in 2013 doesn't have the same power that we saw in the 2016 Barolo Monprivato (also reviewed here) but it does offer similar depth and elegant complexity. This is a collectors' bottle for sure. Vaunting an impressive production history that started in 1881 and an exceptional set of traditionally crafted wines the Mascarello family is Barolo royalty. This little spotlight focuses on new releases from Giuseppe Mascarello including the estate?s 2013 Barolo Monprivato Riserva Cà d'Morissio which should be hitting the market shortly. The Giuseppe Mascarello brand is now run by Mauro Mascarello his wife Maria Teresa and his children Giuseppe and Elena. They farm Dolcetto Barbera Nebbiolo and Freisa. Their top-shelf expressions of Barolo come from Villero (in Castiglione Falletto) the Vigna Santo Stefano in Perno (Monforte d?Alba) and Monprivato in Castiglione Falletto. The historic cellars are in Monchiero. On the occasion of the winery?s 140th birthday I sat down with Elena Mascarello to ask her five questions. 1. How does your family divvy up responsibilities in the vineyard and at the winery? My brother Giuseppe is charged with the technical aspects of winemaking. My mother Maria Teresa does a little bit of everything at the winery and she helps us manage all our daily tasks she uses her experience to supervise various administrative issues and she oversees accounting. I am in charge of the business and commercial aspects and I also work alongside my father to manage the vineyards and all the farming activities. My father Mauro is the head of our estate and all the important decisions regarding wine production and vineyard management fall to him. He personally supervises all things related to the two wines he has dedicated his life to making: the Barolo Monprivato and the Barolo Monprivato Riserva Cà d'Morissio. 2. Your family is a living symbol of the great winemaking traditions of Barolo that have been handed down through generational lines. Could you give me a brief rundown of your production philosophy? Our production philosophy is based on the firm belief that absolute quality is derived in the vineyard and it is our commitment to make sure that the parcels we elect to farm are able to express whatever makes them special and excellent. We have many vintages under our belts and that collective experience has contributed to shape a clear sense of identity in our wines. As you mention my family is a symbol of local winemaking tradition. This is due to?besides the long history we represent?the fact that we have always remained faithful to the wines made in our past. Wines that each generation of my family has learned to make from a previous generation ensuring that we maintain stylistic consistency without ever falling to new trends of which there have been many over the decades pushed primarily by companies focused solely on their commercial goals. At our winery the winemaking workflow is very straightforward and basic. The techniques and style we embrace have been fine-tuned by my father over the years. His most important contribution is a steadfast focus on simplicity with the aim of making wines that are truly reflective of our vineyards and that reveal whenever possible our stylistic personality. 3. Between Villero Perno (Vigna Santo Stefano) and Monprivato you have an outstanding range of vineyard sites. Would you introduce us to the personality or the spirit of each? Our parcel in Villero has clay and sandy soils and makes delicate but intense wines that are generally speaking more approachable earlier. [Grapes from this parcel] also tend to accumulate alcohol very quickly in the hot vintages building fruit weight and intensity. Within the context of our portfolio we consider our Barolo [Villero] to be feminine and persuasive. The Vigna Santo Stefano in Perno has varied soil types with clay made of bluish marl and it produces structured wines rich in flavors and tannin. Among the wines in our portfolio we consider it to be a more muscular and masculine wine. Lastly Monprivato represents balance elegance and composure. It has thin soils that are whitish in color and rich with calcium carbonate. They allow Nebbiolo to express itself with heightened complexity with enormous structural elegance and a persistent herbal balsamic characteristic on the finish. We share special affection for Monprivato?our most excellent vineyard?and we believe that its spirit is forever linked from the very beginning to the history of my family. 4. Can you tell me more about your Cà d?Morissio project from Monprivato? What was this Barolo Riserva?s first vintage and in what years was it made? It was first produced in1993 and made in these vintages: 1995 1996 1997 2001 2003 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 and 2013 which is hitting the market shortly. My father conceived of and wanted to make this wine with the aim of giving emphasis to the best characteristics of Nebbiolo from Monprivato: structural balance elegance silkiness length and the potential for a long life and evolution in bottle. It?s an ambitious project seen as almost extravagant in the 1980s and we obviously took care to work hard in the vineyard or the birthplace of the wine with a selection of the best vines of the Nebbiolo variety that is suited to this place. This is the Michèt clone of Nebbiolo that is planted in a specific parcel of Monprivato and from which we harvest grapes for the Riserva Cà d?Morissio but only in the vintages that we believe live up to the convincing characteristics that meet the aspirations of the project as we envisaged it. 5. There has been a lot of focus on climate change in recent years. What are your thoughts on the topic from your vantage point as a Barolo producer? I think it?s hard to assess the situation at this point from a theoretical point of view based on things that may happen in the future especially because we still are not fully in possession of all the material facts. There is no real answer. Like everyone else we face the challenges of each new growing season year after year with hopes of finding the right set of answers and the best strategies matched to the conditions we observe and those we experience. In the future we hope to meet the challenges that climate change is throwing at us winegrowers.
Wine Spectator: 95 Points
This red is aromatic pure and elegant featuring rose cherry strawberry mint and earth aromas and flavors. Balanced and accessible with a long finish echoing the fruit and savory elements. Best from 2024 through 2038. From Italy.?B.S.
