The 1990 Barolo (magnum) is fat, opulent and fuller in body than the 1989, showing exceptional richness and length. The warmth of the vintage is evident in ripe, almost candied tones in the fruit that recall Pinot Noir. There is wonderful integrity in the glass, as autumn leaves, tobacco and licorice gradually emerge to round out this beautiful Barolo. This, too, combines elements of etherealness and weight in a style that is uniquely Mascarellian. The firm tannins should allow the 1990 to continue to keep nicely for many years, although at some point the structural elements will likely dominate in the wine's balance. Today, the 1990 Barolo is magnificent. Ideally the wine is best opened several hours in advance. I tasted the same bottle roughly 12 hours apart on the same day, and it had improved dramatically with air. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025.
Sadly, Bartolo Mascarello passed away in 2005. Mascarello was one of the last staunch traditionalist producers in Piedmont, -the last of the Mohicans- as he liked to say. The wines were indeed very traditional, at times positively, and at others, less so. Mascarello's Barolo was and remains one of the few wines still made from a combination of vineyards rather than a single-vineyard wine. The fruit, from holdings in San Lorenzo, Cannubi, Torriglione and Rue, was co-fermented in cement and then racked into large, neutral oak, where the wines aged for roughly three and a half years before being bottled. Although the wines sometimes show elements of rusticity that trouble even the most forgiving of palates, when the wines are on, they are sensational. At times powerful when young, the wines almost always age into soft, Burgundian examples of Barolo. Mascarello's 1989 and 1990 Barolos, both of which I tasted from magnum, are still infants, but the same wines in standard bottles are equally magnificent.
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