Bartolo Mascarello

The Story of Bartolo Mascarello

Winemaker Bartolo Mascarello belongs to the greatest legends in Barolo throughout history.

The estate was originally founded in 1918 by Bartolomeo Mascarello and his son Giulio, who later taught his son Bartolo to make wine, particularly Barolo, in the traditional way. Initially, the family owned 2 hectares of vineyards in Barolo, but over the years, it has slowly expanded to own 5 hectares spread over some of the most prestigious crus in Barolo and La Morra. 1.4 hectares on Cannubi, 0.8 hectares on Ruè, 0.4 hectares on San Lorenzo, and 1.9 hectares of Rocche di Torriglione inside the Annunziata plot.

Quantity has never been a goal, and to this day, there are no plans for further expansions. Instead, the focus is on achieving the best possible result from the estate's vineyards and what the vintage offers, rather than looking in new directions or changing conditions or methods in the cellar.

After Bartolo's death in 2005, his daughter Maria Teresa took over the reins of the small family-run winery, located in the heart of Barolo town. But being the ultra-traditionalist that he was, one can be sure that not much has changed here. The small property and cellars, where the extremely limited production of 30-35,000 bottles is made annually, are the same historical settings in which the wine has always been crafted, and so is the philosophy around it. Here, there is only one thing in mind, and that is to create the highest possible quality based on the given vintage's potential.

The Ultra-Traditionalist and the Eternal Struggle

Despite many trends influencing Bartolo's time as a winemaker, he never deviated from the approach he learned from his father.

This includes the decision, which still stands to this day, to insist on using all Nebbiolo grape material for Barolo to create a single wine. The family's different land holdings in Barolo are harvested and vinified individually but blended at the end to achieve the ultimate harmony and balance. Just as the tradition of Barolo Classico, or Barolo normale as it is also called, prescribes. This is how it was done by everyone once, but almost no one exclusively does it today—why "settle" for making regular ones when you can make a single cru?

This question is essential to understand the direction, the terroir path, the general development in the area has almost unanimously moved towards, but especially to understand Bartolo's stature and belief in his philosophy, even though it went against the current.

Because it takes something to stand firm when it may seem like you are "standing still" compared to the innovation of all the neighbors. For Bartolo, it wasn't about innovation but about the belief that the ultimate Barolo is not created from a single terroir but in the meeting between the different terroirs and microclimates of the vineyards. The belief that despite his Barolo not bearing a cru designation, it could still surpass even the best of its kind.

With many magical vintages behind it, there is no doubt that Bartolo Mascarello's Barolo is of the highest caliber. And even though one could hardly believe they could become more monumental, many believe that they have taken another level up under the guidance of Bartolo's daughter Maria Teresa, who, despite maintaining control over vineyards and production methods, has made small adjustments to the processes.

The same naturally applies that there will never be a French oak barrel within the cellar door of Bartolo Mascarello. Part of Bartolo's struggle against modern innovation in the area centered around the experimentation with French barriques in the cellar, which took place with more and more neighbors in the 90s and 00s. Here, the traditional several thousand-liter barrels, botti grande, which families had used for generations, were chopped up in favor of the small French 225-liter barrels. Bartolo's stance on this was unmistakable. These methods, according to him, did not belong in Barolo, and the oaky flavor from the freshly roasted barrels benefited the wine as little as he believed the former Prime Minister Berlusconi benefited the country. And from this comes the iconic quote "NO BARRIQUE, NO BERLUSCONI," which he portrayed on hand-painted labels of his Barolo.