Bartolo Mascarello, Barolo 1998

Bartolo Mascarello Barolo 1998 is a benchmark, traditionally crafted Barolo from one of Piemonte’s most revered and uncompromising producers. Sourced from a blend of the estate’s four historic vineyards—Cannubi, San Lorenzo, Rué, and Rocche di La Morra—this wine epitomises the classic Barolo ideal of power wrapped in elegance. The 1998 vintage is regarded as a harmonious, ageworthy year, and in Mascarello’s hands it has become a beautifully mature expression of Nebbiolo and terroir.

Tasting Notes
In the glass, the 1998 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo shows a deep garnet core with a delicate orange rim, a textbook sign of gracefully aged Nebbiolo. The nose is intense and layered: dried roses, tar, and ripe sour cherries mingle with notes of forest floor, tobacco, anise, and a fine mineral edge that adds lift and precision. On the palate, this is dry, full-bodied and impeccably balanced, with a firm yet resolved tannic structure and vibrant acidity that keeps the wine fresh despite its age. Flavours of mature red cherry, dried strawberry and plum unfurl into savoury undertones of leather, spice, earth and herbs, leading to a long, persistent finish with complex tertiary notes. The wine is in a beautiful drinking window now, showing its full maturity and nuance, yet under proper cellaring it can continue to evolve for another 5–10 years, gaining further aromatic detail and silkier texture.

Production
The fruit for this Barolo comes from four of the Mascarello family’s historic plots—Cannubi, San Lorenzo, Rué and Rocche di La Morra—each contributing different aspects of Barolo’s terroir: Cannubi’s finesse, La Morra’s perfume, and the structure and depth of the other crus. Grapes are conventionally farmed but with a deep respect for traditional methods and low-intervention practices. Harvest is carried out by hand to ensure careful selection of perfectly ripe Nebbiolo. In the cellar, Bartolo Mascarello follows a resolutely classic approach: long macerations on the skins in large cement tanks to extract tannin, aroma and structure, followed by around 36 months of ageing in large, old Slavonian oak casks. This elevage is designed to showcase the purity of Nebbiolo and the character of the vineyards rather than new oak influence, before the wine is bottled and given further time to rest in bottle prior to release.

Food & Serving
This mature Barolo is a superb partner for refined, savoury dishes such as braised beef or veal, osso buco, game birds, lamb shanks, or slow-cooked stews. It also shines alongside truffle-based dishes, rich mushroom risottos and aged hard cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano or mature Pecorino. Serve at 16–18 °C in large Burgundy or Barolo stems to allow the aromas to unfold fully. Decanting 1–2 hours before serving is recommended for a bottle in good condition, helping the wine open up and shed any remaining reduction, while older or more fragile bottles may benefit from a gentler, shorter decant.

Producer
Bartolo Mascarello is one of Barolo’s most iconic and staunchly traditional producers, a reference point for lovers of classic Nebbiolo. Founded in the early 20th century and based in the town of Barolo itself, the estate has long championed blending multiple vineyards into a single Barolo, in contrast to the modern vogue for single-cru bottlings. Bartolo Mascarello became famous not only for his wines but also for his outspoken defence of tradition and resistance to trends such as barriques and short macerations. Today, under the stewardship of his daughter Maria Teresa Mascarello, the estate continues to be regarded as one of the most important and authentic voices in the region, producing Barolo of remarkable longevity, finesse and cultural significance.

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