In my quest for Nebbiolo to love, I came across two rather gorgeous bottles from Giuseppe Mascarello. This is one of those producers with a reputation for making mostly sublime wines, but also one where quality can be up and down. When they are great they are truly great, but greatness is not guaranteed. When the good bottles are as good as these, I can live with that variation, I guess.
These are traditionally made expressions of Nebbiolo: no barriques here, but long fermentations, malolactic in stainless steel, and then a long maturation in large Slavonian oak botti. I also love Mascarello’s Fresias, Dolcettos and Barberas, too.
G Mascarello Langhe Nebbiolo 2011 Piedmont, Italy
Floral, fresh cherry fruit nose. The palate is smooth with lovely red cherries and some plums. There’s nice structure here with a hint of vanilla sweetness. Lovely purity. 93/100
G Mascarello Barolo ‘Monprivato’ 2009 Piedmont, Italy
Pale-ish cherry red colour. Sweetly perfumed, pure nose of elegant red cherry fruit. The palate is silky, elegant and quite fresh but has nice ripe cherry fruit and fine grained tannins, as well as a touch of spice. No rough edges here: so pure and elegant. 95/100
UK agent: Winetraders
3 Comments on Learning to love Nebbiolo: Mascarello, Giuseppe e Figlio
Totally agree on the quality of these 2 wines. It’s hard to imagine how much the Barolo would cost if it said Gevrey somewhere on the label.
I don’t expect the Barolo to be affordable but is the Langhe Nebbiolo within the financial reach of ordinary mortals (ie under £25)?
Langhe Nebbiolo is usually 7-9€ at the cellar door. But some big producers like Mascarello, Bruno Giacosa, Aldo Conterno and of course Voerzio (sooooo expensive) sometimes start from 12-18€ and more.
Anyway you can find nice Barolo starting at 18-20€…