Winemaker Notes
Deep garnet red. Ethereal and enveloping with intense and persistent notes of sweet spices, sandalwood, tobacco, and leather. Great structure. Remarkable tannins which soften with time and make it a perfect wine for aging. Its very long finish is typical of Barolos from Castiglione Falletto.
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
The 2019 Barolo Parussi is Massolino's sole Barolo from Castiglione Falletto. A wine of total grace and refinement, the 2019 is pure seduction. Freshly cut flowers, mint, sweet red berry fruit, orange peel and rose petal soar out of the glass. Readers will find an elegant, sublime Barolo that hits all the right notes. Don't miss it.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Massolino 2019 Barolo Parussi (with 9,000 bottles made) has dark fruit and savory spice that make for a very firm and compact wine. This is an upfront and quite muscular expression with fruit from one of the northernmost sites in Castiglione Falletto. There is some firmness to the tannins that will require more aging time. This wine is set to hit the market in the fall of 2023.
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Wine Spectator
This pure red exudes rose, strawberry, cherry, iron and eucalyptus flavors. Linear, with a firm spine of tannins and lively acidity for support, this shows excellent balance and length. Best from 2027 through 2046.
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Decanter
Fully focused on restrained root aromas such as rhubarb and liquorice, wrapped up in sweet violet, rose. red currants and pomegranate, this 2019 is quite austere, with good concentration of blood orange on the finish, yet thick, dusty and austere tannins. It will evolve with its sternness. The wine ages for 30 months in large Slavonian oak.
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James Suckling
Very pretty with pure and fresh fruit and focused tannins. Medium- to full-bodied with ultra-fine tannins and a bright and vivid finish. Shows tension and brightness. Flowers and sliced strawberries at the end.
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.