Mascarello's 1958 Barolo is another very special wine. I bought my first 1.9 liter bottiglione of this wine about a dozen years ago, during my honeymoon. The bottiglione is a traditional large format that was designed for aging, with the intent that the owner would eventually transfer the contents to two separate bottles and have a little bit left over to account for sediment. That particular bottiglione travelled with me quite a bit until I opened it a few years later. It was one of the greatest wines I had ever tasted up until that point.
The Mascarello 1958 Barolo from the big bottle is not exactly the kind of wine one runs across every day. Over the years, time has softened some of the visceral intensity the 1958 showed when it was younger, while the aromatics have acquired striking complexity. Star anise, autumn leaves, sweet dried cherries and tobacco all give the 1958 its haunting, beguiling complexity. I would prefer to drink the 1958 sooner rather than later. At this point, the reality is that the wine’s longevity will be determined by the resistance of the cork rather than the quality of the wine itself. It would be a shame to miss the 1958 at this glorious peak of maturity.
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