1997 G Mascarello "Monprivato" (short/boring)

I really wanted to love this wine. It was Easter Sunday; this bottle had been in my possession at 55 degrees since shortly after release; my wife was slow cooking a delicious beef tenderloin; a perfect cork and fill and a long decant; Mom joining us for dinner and she loves barolo; and coronavirus was making me awfully damn thirsty.

But it was not to be. Though there was intensity to the perfume from the decanter, the color was a little browner on the edges than I expected. In short, while there was a great deal of acid and tannic bite, as expected, and a pleasant balsamic on the nose, there was also also a “roasted” quality to the wine that overwhelmed any pleasures the fruit might otherwise have provided. Maybe some tar, but no rose petals, no sour cherry, no orange blossoms. The wine was certainly drinkable – and Mom and Wife were politely complimentary – but was nowhere close to where it should have been. I can’t blame storage. Was it just the hot year?

Hmmmm…

How long was the decant?

maybe 6 hours.

That’s really disappointing, I would have expected a great experience as well.

Barolo and Barbaresco were one of my first great loves in the world of wine, but I’m starting to fatigue a little about how fussy they are. Did you wait long enough, did you decant long enough, should you have slox oxed instead of using a decanter, has it stood up for long enough for the sediment to settle.

I like to geek out about wine details as much as anyone, but even still, Piedmont is getting to be too much for me too often. And with prices rising, all the easier to direct dollars elsewhere.

Chris, I completely agree. For these reasons I have whittled down Piemonte over time as % of total wine. This particular bottle was the last of a case I sold, mostly because I felt pricing has gotten absurd and that barolo can be a tad too “special” for me. Don’t get me wrong – I still have plenty. But a few more experiences like this will send my Bartolo, Conterno, Cavallotto, etc., out to market as well.

Since I hadn’t drunk one in quite some time, my expectations were probably artificially elevated. But anyway I look at it, this bottle was a dud.

Seen a number of Baroli & Barbaresci get a brown tinti to them with age and not sure what causes it. Sometimes it’s distracting, other times not. They do tend to lose color with age, so…

Anything but boring!

Your updated analysis seems to mirror Gallonis’.

Giuseppe Mascarello & Figlio-Barolo Monprivato

“Dark ruby. Mauro Mascarello’s 1997s are among the most structured wines I have tasted from this vintage. Perhaps caught at an awkward moment, the 1997 did not enjoy a particularly strong showing, despite having been decanted for over five hours. It is a massively endowed, concentrated Barolo, packed with ripe dark fruit and fierce tannins that make it hard to fully evaluate. However, this wine’s strong track record, as well as its aging potential, gives me no cause for concern with regards the wine’s future. Antonio Galloni 90+? Oct 2005.”

Kelly,

I get your storage was optimal, but that sounds like it got heat damage along the way, since I assume it want in your posession starting from winery.

1997 was the first of the really hot vintages, and IMO the wines are atypical. Many producers had problems with stuck fermentations due to the heat, some producers had adopted the deleafing method that exposed the bunches to too much sun, ripening was problematic. I wouldn’t judge any producer or region by such an atypical, difficult vintage.

The faded brownish color is a mark of the vintage (as it is of '03).

Without naming names, I bought the wine shortly after release from an nyc retailer specializing in Italian wines. :slight_smile: I’ve had it at 55 since, first in professional storage and later in my cellar (shipped in April weather).

I also take the point on the hot year, though I’ve had other 97s that were delicious. (Gaja Sperss is not really “my style” but boy was it ever delicious! Though of course not actually barolo in any number of ways.)

Curious where elsewhere is for you, Chris. I am just getting in to Piedmont but I wont be surprised one day it won’t be that important to me and I’ll move on like I did with Northern and Southern Rhone.

I’m a diversity wine guy, same way I am about food. I’d rather my next 30 meals or next 30 bottles of wine be different from each other, than have one thing I really like be most of the next 30.

I know there are people who are the opposite – particularly some of the Burgundy stalwarts on WB will say that’s their favorite so why bother drinking wines from other places? And that’s a completely valid perspective which makes sense in its own way, but it’s not mine.

So I guess I don’t have a specific substitute as my Piedmont buying has trended downward. Probably the closest thing would be more wines from Tuscany and Etna, and a little more from Alto Piemonte.

So still Italian. That’s good. certainly a lot of variety in that country. I like variety too but dislike expensive so I look for wines from anywhere that are benchmark but low cost (under $50).

Your bottle was either heat damaged before it got to you (highly plausible; I don’t know why you think storage can’t be to blame) or the cork didn’t do its job.

Agreed, Doug. There are a lot of wines that aren’t taken care of on their way to the importer/distributor/retailer.

I own a single bottle that I’ve been meaning to try so this note did cause me a little consternation. But based on everyone’s responses I might go ahead and give it a try anyway. Maybe take a page from Klapp’s book and open it the night before

Agreed; I have to go back 2-3 months to find a repeat producer in my log

Why do you say that? To me, Kelly’s description is entirely consistent with the wine being a '97. As Oliver noted, not only was it a very warm year, but some people had problems with stuck fermentations.

I don’t see any descriptors there that sound like heat damage or oxidation. Just sounds like very ripe fruit that hasn’t evolved that pleasantly. Since he bought it on release and has stored it at 55F since, I’d go with the obvious explanation: the vintage.

I prefer schizophrenic consumption myself…I think it keeps me energized, enthused, and motivated in my hobby and job.

I say that because I’ve had '97 Monprivato several times over the years, and it has always been evolving very slowly, as Monprivato does even in vintages like '97 and 2000. It has been a few years since my last look, but I am confident that a good bottle would not show this way. Plus, that sounds exactly like heat damage to me. So I am going with the obvious explanation. I know for a fact that a LOT of European wine gets heat damaged on its way to the US, and there’s plenty of potential for problems within this country before getting to a consumer, even when purchased soon after release.

Well the 2003 - also a high heat vintage - was showing tired as well, and quickly maturing.