Barolo, Bartolo Mascarello 2020

In the blend of Maria Teresa Mascarello's Barolo 2020, the replanted San Lorenzo vineyard makes a comeback, with a small portion of young-vine fruit. It was harvested on 2 October, while the rest (from Rocche dell'Annunziata and Cannubi) was picked from 4-8 October, after the rain. The result is a wine with a backdrop of very fresh redcurranty fruits, violets, deep spices including liquorice root, as well as hints of linden, almost camphor, and wild strawberry. A defined expression demonstrating a lot of maturity and savouriness. Drink between 2024-2040.

To be released this fall, the gorgeous 2020 Barolo from Maria Teresa Mascarello is a fantastic expression of the vintage, starting with its enticing aromas of perfumed berry, rose and culinary spice. Full-bodied and generous, the enveloping palate doles out ripe raspberry, star anise, crushed mint and blood orange seamlessly supported by well-integrated, polished tannins. Made with Nebbiolo from five vineyards, including the estate's San Lorenzo cru for the first time since 2014 after it was grubbed up in 2015 and replanted in 2017, it has great, succulent fruit, balance, structure and depth. Drink 2026–2035.

This wine is on the market now. The Bartolo Mascarello 2020 Barolo represents a blend of fruit from five sites for the first time, Maria Teresa Mascarello tells me excitedly. The classic blend of the recent past saw fruit from Rue and Cannubi in Barolo and Rocche dell’Annunziata in La Morra. San Lorenzo, if only with fruit from a mere 3,000 square meters of seven-year-old vines, returns to the blend with this vintage. The wine also has fruit from Monrobio di Bussia from 4,000 square meters of leased vineyards. (Monrobio di Bussia took the place of San Lorenzo from the 2015 to the 2019 vintages). The Rue vineyard measures 4,000 square meters and has 35-year-old plants. Rocche dell’Annunziata measures 1.3 hectares, and its vines range from 35 to 40 years old. The oldest vines in Cannubi reach 70 years in age, but replanting over the years has introduced 15-, 20- and 25-year-old plants. The site measures one hectare and makes up about one-third of this wine (with fruit sourced from across a total of 3.3 hectares). Rocche dell’Annunziata also makes up one-third of the blend. 2026-2050.

Maria-Theresa Mascarello’s 2020 Barolo is quite classical in style, size and shape in this vintage, tipping the scales at its customary fourteen percent alcohol. The youthfully complex bouquet offers up a beautiful blend of cherries, a touch of pomegranate, woodsmoke, fresh oregano, gamebird, a fine foundation of soil tones, camphor and roses. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, transparent and impeccably balanced, with a beautiful core of red fruit, ripe, seamlessly integrated tannins, good acids and outstanding precision on the long, complex and utterly refined finish. Like all of Maria-Theresa’s Baroli, this is an utterly classical bottle that will demand fully two decades before it starts to blossom, but will be a stunning and very long-livedwine once it starts to soften up its undercarriage of tannin. 2045-2090.