Community Tasting Note
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Robmcl920 Likes this wine: 93 points
September 22, 2022 - The '18 Bartolo is a good wine in this difficult vintage. I found the nose to be explosive for a young Barolo, and very pretty with a tropical fruit element of blood orange peel standing out over dried red cherry, rose petal, mint, and anise notes.
On the palate, I found the 2018 to be less open than the aromatics. The wine has a good inner sweetness and medium to high acidity, giving it a very fresh personality. I found sweet mint, dried rose petal, red cherry, sweet spice, and blood orange notes. Texturally, it is on the more tannic and serious side vs. the few other '18s I've tasted to-date. I imagine the more serious texture and concentration here, along with the (relatively good) sweetness of the fruit, bodes well for the future of this wine relative to some others in the vintage. As of today, however, the '18 does lack the extreme finesse of the best vintages from Mascarello. Also, while I like the fruit here relative to some other '18s I've tasted, at times it still comes across a bit underripe vs. the better vintages.
In my opinion, by far the best wine of the recent "weaker" vintages at Bartolo is the 2014. I see the '14 as a super classic Barolo that should age well. The 2011 and 2012 are tasty wines to drink soon, with the '12 more likely to benefit from some additional aging than the '11. The '17 is pretty but very tannic and TBD if it gains elegance before it loses fruit; the '18 also seems like a wine where you wonder how it'll age given the fruit is a bit subdued.5 people found this helpful 3,450 views