98 points - Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, August 2023
Coming to market this fall, the Bartolo Mascarello 2019 Barolo represents a classic vintage in between two challenging growing seasons. Both 2018 and 2020 were hotter than 2019, resulting in higher alcohol levels. With fruit harvested on October 8th and 9th, this expression from 2019 shows extra freshness and a more streamlined style compared to the texturally generous 2020 or the softer and more open-knit 2018. Extraction and structure came easily in 2019, and delicate pump-overs sufficed. Maria Teresa Mascarello opted against submerged cap fermentations in 2022, 2019, 2017 and 2013. It was performed in 2016, 2014 and 2010, however. The fruit represents a blend of Monrobiolo in Bussia (a site with a lease that ends in 2025), Rue and Cannubi in Barolo and Rocche dell’Annunziata in La Morra. San Lorenzo will return to the blend in 2020. This bottle promises a decisive, vertical delivery of fruit (lots of "skeleton and bones") with a pretty moment of crunch, elegant acidic freshness and tannic structure. If you are nostalgic for a tight, acidity-driven Barolo that is good for long cellar aging, the 2019 is for you.
Maria Teresa Mascarello reports that she lost anywhere from 40% to 50% of her Nebbiolo production in 2022 due to drought at critical times during a very hot summer growing season. The 2022 vintage was definitely not easy on the late-ripening variety planted in low-trellised vineyards, she confirms. However, yields started off on the heavy side before the drought. The resulting fruit achieved higher alcohol levels (at about 14.5% for the Nebbiolo), but the acidity is balanced.
- Monica Larner
