1958 Bartolo Mascarello Barbaresco Canubbi Riserva

Bartolo Mascarello is a 12-acre estate in Barolo, in the Piedmont region of Italy. The estate was founded in 1919 by Giulio Mascarello and was known as Cantina Mascarello until Giulio’s death in 1981. Giulio’s son Bartolo began working with his father in the late 1940s and Bartolo changed the label to "Bartolo Mascarello” in 1982. Until his passing in 2005 Bartolo continued to make traditional, widely-admired Barolos in the small winery under his house. After his death, his daughter Maria Teresa took over the winery, and she continues to make Barolo in the plain but distinctive style championed by her father and grandfather. The estate produces just one Barolo, which is made from a mix of grapes from the family’s four Nebbiolo plots in Cannubi, Rue, Roche di Annunziata and San Lorenzo. The fruit from the four vineyards is co-fermented in concrete vats by indigenous yeasts without temperature controls. Other wines produced are Barbera d’Alba, Dolcetto d’Alba, Langhe Nebbiolo and Langhe Freisa. Gambero Rosso, Italy’s leading wine journal, has noted that Maria Teresa has followed her father’s legacy “with that special Mascarello way of crafting truly authentic bottles from traditional, unhurried maceration and aging in large barrels. (These are) wines that will endure for decades.”

Barbaresco is one of the two most acclaimed DOCGs in Piedmont, the other being Barolo. Located just a few miles north of Barolo, Barbaresco is a small town of fewer than 700 people and 1,680 vineyard acres, making it less than half the size of the Barolo DOCG. The other communes in this DOCG of rolling hills are Neive and Treiso. As in Barolo, the DOCG requires that Barbaresco DOCG wines be 100% Nebbiolo, a grape thought of as the Pinot Noir of Italy. Records show that Nebbiolo was grown in the Piedmont as early as the 14th century, and despite being somewhat finicky – it is late to ripen and easily damaged by adverse weather --- Nebbiolo makes highly aromatic and powerful red wines. Until the mid-19th century Nebbiolos of Piedmont were vinified as sweet wines, though that ended in the late 19th century when a French oenologist was invited to Piedmont to show producers how to make dry reds. By the late 20th century respected producers were making outstanding Nebbiolos, as well as Nebbiolo blends that do not carry the DOCG label. Barbaresco was made a DOC in 1966 and upgraded to a DCOG in 1980. DOCG Barbaresco must be aged a minimum of two years, with a minimum of one year in wood. Barbarescos are regarded as more subtle and refined than Barolos, and more approachable when young.

This red grape is most often associated with Piedmont, where it becomes DOCG Barolo and Barbaresco, among others. Its name comes from Italian for “fog,” which descends over the region at harvest. The fruit also gains a foggy white veil when mature.