Bartolo Mascarello Barolo 2020

96 points - Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, January 2025 This wine is on the market now. The Bartolo Mascarello 2020 Barolo represents a blend of fruit from five sites for the first time, Maria Teresa Mascarello tells me excitedly. The classic blend of the recent past saw fruit from Rue and Cannubi in Barolo and Rocche dell’Annunziata in La Morra. San Lorenzo, if only with fruit from a mere 3,000 square meters of seven-year-old vines, returns to the blend with this vintage. The wine also has fruit from Monrobio di Bussia from 4,000 square meters of leased vineyards. (Monrobio di Bussia took the place of San Lorenzo from the 2015 to the 2019 vintages). The Rue vineyard measures 4,000 square meters and has 35-year-old plants. Rocche dell’Annunziata measures 1.3 hectares, and its vines range from 35 to 40 years old. The oldest vines in Cannubi reach 70 years in age, but replanting over the years has introduced 15-, 20- and 25-year-old plants. The site measures one hectare and makes up about one-third of this wine (with fruit sourced from across a total of 3.3 hectares). Rocche dell’Annunziata also makes up one-third of the blend. Fermentation times were long in 2020, lasting 55 days, with 42 days of submerged cap. This process allows the aromas and flavors to develop slowly and with added nuance. The vintage is considered hot; however, 2020 saw a "different kind of heat," Maria Teresa Mascarello tells me. Much-needed water reserves remained intact from winter and spring that saw snow and rain. "There was more disease pressure in 2020, but it wasn't too bad; and the wines show full-bodied ripeness," she says. This vintage was bottled in summer 2024. The wine reveals a soft side, with supple tannins, dark cherry fruit, dried herb, tea leaf and a hint of wild mint. The bouquet is open and does not hold back, especially in terms of its fruit-forward appeal. It feels linear and sharp on the palate, with balanced acidity that keeps it bright. - Monica Larner