Monprivato, a Middle Ground Cru

Despite his family’s long history, Mauro Mascarello is often referred to as ‘the other Mascarello’, overshadowed by the non-apparent-apparent marketing skills of Bartolo Mascarello. Nevertheless, Mauro’s contribution to Barolo is the product of long traditions, intense innovation and, above all, hard work, a lot of hard work. His family has old roots in the Langhe and there are documents showing that the Mascarello family worked for the ‘legendary’ Marchioness of Barolo, Juliette Colbert, the woman who invented Barolo and drew world attention to it. In 1881, the Mascarello family struck out on their own and began to make wine from their own grapes, even if we do not know how initial sales were. In more recent times, the Mascarello family were among the first to use the topping method of pruning, aimed at reducing yield in order to produce better grapes. The grapes are for the most part obtained through mass selection carried out at the estate with very old clones and almost all of them of the Michet variety of Nebbiolo which produces less but has a higher quality than the others allowed in making Barolo (Lampia, the most constant and productive, and Rosé, which has almost all but disappeared and produced wines that were too diluted. It has recently been ascertained that this grape is genetically different and is a variety in itself). The Mascarello family has always been based in Castiglion Falletto, one of the five classic Barolo municipalities. Even if many years have gone by, for me the division made by Renato Ratti of the territory and cru of Barolo remains the most valid, even if there were some shortcomings that have been rectified in a wonderful initiative by Slow Food. This redefined the boundaries between cru more precisely and increased the number of qualified areas, also in view of the changes Barolo underwent in the 1980s, both from a technical and social point of view, a true revolution. I stick to a much more traditional vision of the Barolo area and, personally, for me Barolo is only that which comes from the five municipalities that lie within a horseshoe area and the Cannubi zone, which is seen as ending before reaching Sandrone’s vineyards. I was convinced of this by Beppe Collar, a Barolo legend.
Monprivato is a cru in the middle ground, because its soil is a cross between the two geological eras in the Barolo area, the Helvetian epoch and the Tortonian period, with the first tending more towards sand and the second more pebbly. Monprivato is a single body of some 6.80 hectares (very rare for the zone), that has a lovely southwest exposure and sits at 280-300m above sea level. The wines produced here are very elegant thanks to the finesse of their tannins and they have great structure, superior to some La Morra wines but inferior to the Barolo from Serralunga and Monforte. The vertical tasting I took part in, organized by the Siena Enoclub, went as far back as 1970, Monprivato’s first vintage. At the time it was very innovative to ferment an estate’s cru separately, a great idea from Mauro Mascarello.
The tasting begins with 2004 and works down to 2001, 1999, 1990, 1985, 1978 and 1970.
 

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