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It’s hard to know where to start with vintages from a single producer. For this first flight I chose four wines I thought would be within their peak drinking windows. Mascarello’s 2000 Barolo is a wine I have not tasted in some time from bottle, but one smell is enough to remind me of what I found objectionable when the wine was first released. In short, the 2000 is riddled with brett and generally unclean flavors. Time has softened some of the harshness the 2000 showed when it was younger, but the flaws remain. For whatever reason or reasons the 2000 has always been better from magnum.
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Antonio Galloni, Vinous
Stephen Tanzer, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Oddly enough, from magnum, the 2000 Barolo is magnificent, with none of the imperfections I have found in so many of my bottles. The wine shows considerable 2000 personality in its warm, radiant fruit, but the large format has maintained freshness and verve. Readers who can find the 2000 in magnum will want to consider it.
From bottle, the 2000 Barolo (magnum) has never been satisfying. I have gone through a number of bottles, mostly from my own cellar, and been consistently disappointed. As the wine has aged the ever present rustic bouquet has developed but not disappeared. Autumn leaves, mushrooms, dried cherries, tobacco and faded roses are some of the nuances that emerge from the glass. The unpolished qualities reappear on a finish marked by hard tannins. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2020. After many years I have finally concluded that Bartolo Mascarello’s 2000 Barolo will always remain a mystery to me.
Good medium red. Complex aromas of dried fruits, leather, smoke and marzipan; less floral and more rustic than the 1999. But also sweeter and fatter in the mid-palate, with more tex ture and depth but less thrust than the '99. Offers a near-decadent sweetness that carries through on the back end, where the tannins are similarly sweet and broad. This was aged in four very old 25-hectoliter casks. According to Maria-Theresa, this wine was higher in dry extract than the '99.
About the producer
Bartolo Mascarello is one of the most respected, traditionalist Barolo producers. The Piedmont estate makes one of the region’s finest expressions of Nebbiolo.