Giuseppe Mascarello, Barolo Riserva Monprivato Ca d’Morissio 2013 1.5l

This wine has been resting quietly in bottle since 2018 while getting ready for its release, which should be within the next month or two. The 2013 Barolo Monprivato Riserva Cà d’Morissio benefits from a long and slow growing season, just what the late-ripening Nebbiolo grape likes best. This wine delivers rich volume and a fine texture, with a pretty point of fresh acidity that is neatly buried behind bright fruit tones of cassis, dried cherry and rose hip. Earthy tones are woven within, and the wine shows slightly spicy highlights of licorice and tar that point to some of the subtle bottle evolution already underway. Generally speaking, the fruit in 2013 doesn’t have the same power that we saw in the 2016 Barolo Monprivato (also reviewed here), but it does offer similar depth and elegant complexity. This is a collectors’ bottle for sure.