Winemaker Notes
Garnet red color with variable intensity depending on the vintage. The grapes come from different vineyards and this gives them a broad and variable spectrum of perfumes, ranging from tempting spicy notes to those of a sweeter, floral and fruity nature. A variety of sensations, with a full-bodied, classic and well structured wine which ages well and perfectly represents the important character of ourland.
It achieves its best expression when served with red meats, particularly game, and with dishes dressed with truffle. It is also excellent with fresh egg pasta and meat sauce, and with risotto, as well as medium-mature cow’s milk and goat’s milk cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
In 2018 the estate didn't make its cru-specific bottlings so the best grapes are in this straight Barolo. And it shows. It opens with heady scents of eucalyptus, pine forest, hay, new leather and lilac. Extremely elegant, the savory, vibrant palate exhibits red cherry, juniper berry and star anise set against taut, refined tannins and bright acidity.
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Decanter
While at the village level in 2018 we seem to find more dilute wines, Massolino should be considered an exception because they produced just a village Barolo, a blend of all their MGAs, including Vigna Rionda. The wine shines for its bright ruby colour, meaty and tarry with a incredible depth of rhubarb and minerality. Open-knit with its wild strawberry and cherry fruits, it flows on the velvety palate, lean yet refined, with polished tannins and brilliant integrated acidity. The finish is all cherry kernel and liquorice root. With this 2018 the estate confirms its consistency.
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James Suckling
Pure, yet savory, with a stony, mineral punch to the orange peel, strawberries and dried herbs. I love the clarity and the tautness on the palate, with elegant but gutsy flavors of minerals and fruit, together with firm tannins that show Barolo etherealness and power at the same time. Already approachable.
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Wine & Spirits
The Massolino family found that the 2018 growing season gave nebbiolo with high pH, prompting the difficult decision to forgo production of all of their single-MGA Barolos. They blended fruit from their most prestigious plots in Margheria, Parafada, Parussi and Vigna Rionda to make this wine, and it’s one worth seeking out for its depth, balance and freshness. The red cherry and berry flavors feel crunchy and taut, woven with hints of licorice and that rusty note typical of Serralunga.
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Wine Spectator
This red packs loads of floral, strawberry, cherry and white pepper aromas and flavors. Slim and fruity for the most part yet with a solid underlying structure. Austere for now on the finish, but well balanced overall.
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.