March 13, 2024 - 2006 Barolo (Trattoria One Fifth, NYC.): [Double decanted around 11am.] Smoky black fruit nose. In the mouth, elegant red fruit. Long, complex finish of graphite and red fruit. A terrific wine, but I think it will be even better in 5 years.
February 29, 2024 - Magnum. TCA.
December 22, 2023 - Herbal, medicinal and soy sauce which is nothing like a Bartolo at the beginning. Needed airtime and then flourished with fine posh leather and that candied sweet strawberries notes, which finally drew some parallel to the maker. The body was rather dark and rustic. Conterno Sensory really helped to push this wine up a notch, where the aromatics were struggling to unfurl. I can't help feeling that this is a little heat damaged? Can't shake off that soy sauce, pruney note, maybe provenance.
December 21, 2023 - Piedmont theme: Impressively, someone managed to nail this as a Bartolo since this was very different from the post-2010 wines that I have tried. Thought this was rather extracted with stewed pruney fruit. Some Vosne-like five spice notes. Read some wines from this era have been prematurely oxidised so maybe this was another example?
November 10, 2023 - First bottle of a case purchased on release and it was corked! Totally lame...
October 28, 2023 - This was a very elegant expression of ripe, dark fruit that exceeded my expectations. The perfume unfurls from the glass with swirling, as vibrant fruits emerge with undertones of rose petal and lavender.
A raw intensity strikes your palate on the attack, but a cohesive structure allows the dark acidity and floral characteristics to shine on the finish.
According to the in-house Barolo expert, this didn't even show at the peak that it could've. I am quite curious how high Bartolo Mascarello can go - definitely warrants another bottle.
September 30, 2023 - The ‘06 Bartolo is a very enjoyable wine, but is slightly more advanced than I’d hope at this stage. It’s hard to say if it’s this bottle or the wine itself, but this bottle seems similar to the ex-cellar magnum at the Vinous Mascarello dinner in February, so I believe this was correct.
The nose was nicely perfumed, with dark red to black plum fruit, licorice, sweet spices, dark violet floral tones, balsamic, and a touch of baker’s chocolate. On the palate, the wine is medium to full in body, with medium plus acidity, still quite intense and tannic. I found rich, black plum fruit tones, balsamic, sweet baking spices, and a bit of cocoa powder, with the wine emphasizing baking spice and balsamic tones more than primary fruit.
My concern is that it appears that the Bartolo wines from this era are aging faster than expected. The ‘04 has consistently seemed advanced over my last few tastings, and this ‘06 and some bottles of the ‘07 have also seemed less fresh than you’d hope.
August 24, 2023 - Opened in HK. Slow-oxed for 2 hours before slowly enjoying from glass.
This was disappointing, unfortunately - I was hoping for more roses and fruit, but it was more tertiary than I expected and the nose was quite subdued. Tannins were quite firm and slightly bitter at the start, but these did round out a little with more air. Was this a bad bottle, or is it just in an awkward place? I'm not sure - but I know that I definitely enjoyed the 2011 I had recently much more in every aspect.
February 22, 2023 - Sample few hours later from bottle opened at a Barolo dinner. Drank in Conterno Sensory.
Appearance pale intensity, garnet colour. Some very fine sediment. Legs.
Nose is clean, pronounced intensity, with aromas of fragrant earth, balsamic, leather, boiled meat, classic ripe red cherries, brambly herbs. Developed.
On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium+ alcohol (14%), resolving high tannins, full body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of dark red cherries, black cherries, lovely earth, brambly herbs + spice, old leather + boiled meat. Very long finish.
Excellent quality. Surpasses my previous experience on account of the pronounced fragrant nose. I would put it as developed as I think that although it is not going downhill anytime soon, it is probably drinking as good as it gets already.
February 2, 2023 - La Festa del Barolo: Rare Wine Dinner - Bartolo Mascarello (Legacy Records): From a magnum. Again very classic in style. Fresh. Bright. Darker fruits. It’s a lovely wine who’s only transgression is it fell right after the ‘08 which was a truly stunning wine.