Winemaker Notes
Massolino Barolo represents the synthesis of the different characteristics offered by each terroir. They have always preferred traditional ageing in large Slavonian oak barrels, to maintain a purer and more forthright identity. A broad and variable range of aromas, with a surprising expressive evolution over time.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Bright and lively red fruit character with dried flowers, stones and hints of tree resin. Medium-bodied, clean and focused on the palate, with fine tannins and a linear finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Showing elegant richness and a velvety consistency, the Massolino 2020 Barolo ages in large oak botti for 30 months. The wine represents a blend of fruit from Serralunga d'Alba (Collaretto, Briccolina, Broglio and Le Turne) and one site in Castiglione Falletto. Elegance is underlined in this wine that shows wild berry, dried blueberry and a sweet touch of lilac over a medium-dark finish. The wine's texture manages to be direct and linear but generous at the same time.
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Wine Enthusiast
Opening with aromas of crushed red fruits and a bouquet of bay leaf, balsam and sandalwood that slowly lift from the glass. The palate is rounded and pretty— soft tannins make it immediately accessible.
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Wine Spectator
Cherry, plum, camphor and tobacco flavors are aligned with a silky texture. This intense red is juicy midpalate before building to the long finish, with earth, tobacco and licorice notes. Still, this is solid and dense.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Medium red in color, the 2020 Barolo is fruity and expressive out of the gate, with pure, ripe aromas of ripe mixed berries, wildflowers, sweet herbs, and cedar. There’s lovely freshness on the palate, with medium body, mouthwatering dark mineral accents, ripe tannins, and an approachable feel. It’s a very appealing wine that captures the elements of this vintage with a skillful hand. Drink 2024-2032.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.