Stood up for a week. Slow ox’d, no decant, for 5 hours. Just spectacularly pure, with perfectly integrated nose and palate showing rose petals, red fruit, tar, leather, mushroom and forest floor.
Continued to open in the glass and evolve, improving along the way without ever getting tired. A truly great wine.
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This bottle of '64 Mascarello Riserva was incredibly intense for a wine of its age, especially compared to the concerningly light color of the wine. That's a trend I've noticed with the old Giuseppe Mascarello wines, i.e. the '61 which I've found to have almost no color but be so expressive. At least in this bottle of the '64, I found the aromatics to be beautiful but marred by a bit of funk, while the palate was both very sweet and caressing but also showed good depth, and much less of the funk apparent on the nose. This bottle seemed a bit fresher than the one I had 2.5 years ago, although I didn't note the same funk in that bottle. Both bottles were from the same source.
The nose was highly perfumed with sweet red fruit, dried red roses, citrus peel, earth, and iron, and a layer of animal funk, maybe best described as a dry aged meat sort of note on type that was clearly not entirely pure. Whether this was the winemaking, the bottle or both is unclear. This seemed to be a perfect bottle in every respect including the cork.
On the palate, the wine showed frankly miraculous depth for its age and pale color. I found super sweet red fruit and floral tones, mint, and earth with beautiful sweetness and a caressing texture to the wine, medium in body with great depth and still a bit of tannin remaining. Acidity was medium to high, and combined with the sweetness creates a sense of vibrancy that's shocking for a 60 year old wine. While there was a touch of the meaty funk that I found on the nose, it was much more in the background on the palate, allowing the sweet red fruit and red floral notes and the mint to take center stage.
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Mary called soy sauce. She’s 110% on the money. Feeling a BBQ… lay’s chips and dry-aged meat funk. There is an herbal presence on half of the nose followed by dusty leather. Just astounded by how sprightly this wine is after 57 years., Bill Murray personality. A beastly finish (30+ secs). @Babbo
The '64 Riserva showed gorgeous aromatics, but I didn't find the palate to be on the same level. The nose was very perfumed, cool, and sweet. I found fresh roses, sweet light red cherry fruit, fresh mint, earth, and sweet spices. Texturally, the palate showed what I have come to expect from aged Mascarello, as it was perfectly smooth and medium in body from beginning to end, with tannins that have fully melted into the wine. I found sweet light red fruit, mint, earth, and raw meat on the palate, but towards the finish the acidity level poked out a bit and obscured the beautiful fruit tones. Sour red cherry and smoke lingered on the finish.
Update: While the wine never became fully satisfying on the palate, with significant time in the decanter, I felt that it became more cohesive, even on the aromatics. The aromatics were sweet and floral, and the palate took on a bit more of a savory side with prominent meat and licorice notes. The acidity was less obtrusive.
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4/25/2024 - Palisades57 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Stood up for a week. Slow ox’d, no decant, for 5 hours. Just spectacularly pure, with perfectly integrated nose and palate showing rose petals, red fruit, tar, leather, mushroom and forest floor.
Continued to open in the glass and evolve, improving along the way without ever getting tired. A truly great wine.
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12/23/2023 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 93 Points
This bottle of '64 Mascarello Riserva was incredibly intense for a wine of its age, especially compared to the concerningly light color of the wine. That's a trend I've noticed with the old Giuseppe Mascarello wines, i.e. the '61 which I've found to have almost no color but be so expressive. At least in this bottle of the '64, I found the aromatics to be beautiful but marred by a bit of funk, while the palate was both very sweet and caressing but also showed good depth, and much less of the funk apparent on the nose. This bottle seemed a bit fresher than the one I had 2.5 years ago, although I didn't note the same funk in that bottle. Both bottles were from the same source.
The nose was highly perfumed with sweet red fruit, dried red roses, citrus peel, earth, and iron, and a layer of animal funk, maybe best described as a dry aged meat sort of note on type that was clearly not entirely pure. Whether this was the winemaking, the bottle or both is unclear. This seemed to be a perfect bottle in every respect including the cork.
On the palate, the wine showed frankly miraculous depth for its age and pale color. I found super sweet red fruit and floral tones, mint, and earth with beautiful sweetness and a caressing texture to the wine, medium in body with great depth and still a bit of tannin remaining. Acidity was medium to high, and combined with the sweetness creates a sense of vibrancy that's shocking for a 60 year old wine. While there was a touch of the meaty funk that I found on the nose, it was much more in the background on the palate, allowing the sweet red fruit and red floral notes and the mint to take center stage.
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2/26/2022 - ash_then_chase wrote: 95 Points
Mary called soy sauce. She’s 110% on the money. Feeling a BBQ… lay’s chips and dry-aged meat funk. There is an herbal presence on half of the nose followed by dusty leather. Just astounded by how sprightly this wine is after 57 years., Bill Murray personality. A beastly finish (30+ secs). @Babbo
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6/27/2021 - Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 93 Points
The '64 Riserva showed gorgeous aromatics, but I didn't find the palate to be on the same level. The nose was very perfumed, cool, and sweet. I found fresh roses, sweet light red cherry fruit, fresh mint, earth, and sweet spices. Texturally, the palate showed what I have come to expect from aged Mascarello, as it was perfectly smooth and medium in body from beginning to end, with tannins that have fully melted into the wine. I found sweet light red fruit, mint, earth, and raw meat on the palate, but towards the finish the acidity level poked out a bit and obscured the beautiful fruit tones. Sour red cherry and smoke lingered on the finish.
Update: While the wine never became fully satisfying on the palate, with significant time in the decanter, I felt that it became more cohesive, even on the aromatics. The aromatics were sweet and floral, and the palate took on a bit more of a savory side with prominent meat and licorice notes. The acidity was less obtrusive.
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2/25/2017 - JOsgood wrote: 96 Points
Absolutely epic old Barolo. Serious perfume on the nose and a bed of roses on the palate.
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