Has anyone had the 1937,1954, 1955, 1958, or 1961 Guiseppe Mascarello Barolo recently?
If so can you tell me your experiences and decanting times?
Thanks in advance
Problem I’d like to have.
The 58’ mascarello is still my all-time favorite barolo. Unfortunately the 61 I tried last year was not in the same league, probably poor storage.
If you’ve got the bottle and want to celebrate birth years, I’m game.
I had the 61 in the last year and it was very, very good. I let it stand for more than two weeks ahead of time, then decanted it about 5 hours before consuming.
I’ve been lucky enough to open and drink the ‘58 and ‘61 a few times.
Stand up for a month, open in the morning with great care and pour a small sample, put back in the cellar all day and double decant (rinse the bottle while the wine is in a bowl and then pour back) and finally serve from the bottle. I’ve had great success with many bottles of old nebbiolo this way.
Hi Jay,
I have had '54, '58 and '61 recently. A long decant works (6-10 hours).
Cheers
Jeremy
Thank you Martin and Jeremy.I did double decant the 1958 5 hours ahead and again when serving.The wine changed dramatically from being totally shut down to evolving into a wonderful bottle.
I did the same with the 1955 a few weeks ago and it was one of the greatest older Barolos ever.
I’m thinking that the 1958 (which had almost no sediment )had some Barbera added since the color was deep red and unlike most older Italian wines.
I’m convinced that unlike older Burgs and Bordeaux that a minimum of 4-5 hours and multiple decanting of older Barolo is totally necessary.
The oxidation curves on Nebbiolo are simply bizarre, and seem to contradict what you might [naively] assume to be the relevant governing laws of chemistry & physics.
Nebbiolo can open up into something interesting on, say, Day 2, but then on Day 3, shut down hard as nails [as though it had reverted to being a barrel sample again], and refuse to re-awaken for the rest of the week.
Not exactly what you asked, but 1961 G. Mascarello Barbaresco was great recently. I have a 1961 Barolo standing up but haven’t gotten to it yet.
As others have said, proper decanting after standing the bottle up for a few weeks is key.
Thank you Michael