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Tasting notes
The 2016 Barolo (magnum) is obviously a very, very young wine and yet its inclusion in this flight is essential, both for getting a glimpse of the wine at this early stage and also for understanding its place among recent vintages. Supremely elegant and classically austere in bearing, the 2016 is sublime. The vibrancy of the flavors is captivating, as is the wine’s energy. All the 2016 needs is time.
Critic scores
Average Score
Monica Larner, Wine Advocate
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
This is the stuff of dreams. Tasted so young, I did a lot of coaxing to nudge the wine along, thanks to a double decant and a few extra hours in an open bottle. I tasted both samples I had over the course of a few weeks. Those efforts served well, but the wine remains packed tight and full of nervous energy regardless, indicating that its true potential won't be seen for another 10 or 20 years, or likely more. The Bartolo Mascarello 2016 Barolo is a true icon of the vintage. The approach is elongated and silky, like lifting honey from a jar. The aromas are chiseled and focused with wild berry, licorice, candied orange peel, campfire ash, rusted iron, crushed graphite and pencil shaving. The wine's personality is downplayed, elegant and demure in one tasting but exuberant and expressive in the next. The tannins show snap and crunch, indicating they will drive the wine forward over many years of cellar age. This is one of those rare wines that is poised to improve with each increment of time. Structurally, it is perfect. If we were to create a template for an aspirational Barolo, this would be it.
Maria Teresa Mascarello made one of the wines of the vintage in 2016. Her 2016 Barolo is soft and sensual, but also quite hushed - as many wines are in this vintage in the early going. Medium in body with silky tannins and exceptional balance, the 2016 has so much to offer, but it is also going to require quite a bit of time to be at its very best. Just after bottling, the 2016 was more generous and rich, but it is decidedly closed today. I wouldn't dream of touching a bottle before age ten, and even that will be early for a super-classic Barolo. Rose petal, mint, crushed flowers, anise and blood orange develop with time in the glass, but the 2016 is a Barolo for readers who can afford to be patient.
Bottled in August 2019. Lustrous mid ruby. Great purity, lift and focus with cherry and raspberry fruit. Great freshness. Compact raspberry fruit with energetic, long tannins and a build-up of perfumed red fruit on the finish. (WS)
About the producer
Bartolo Mascarello is one of the most respected, traditionalist Barolo producers. The Piedmont estate makes one of the region’s finest expressions of Nebbiolo.