The just-bottled 2011 Barolo is sweet, round and sensual, as it has always been from barrel. Kirsch, rose petals, sweet red cherries, crushed flowers, mint and cinnamon are all laced together in the glass. The tannins are silky, round and beautifully ripe. I expect the 2011 will offer a long and wide drinking window of pure pleasure over the next 20 years or so. This is one of the more delicate, polished 2011 Barolos readers will come across.

Fascinating aromas of spice, dried fruit, mushrooms, licorice and dried strawberries follow through to a full body with tight and chewy tannins and a long, flavorful finish. Very tannic still. Try in 2021.

The 2011 Barolo is a very expressive wine with more determination and muscle than you usually get in the wines of Bartolo Mascarello. The bouquet opens to plush flavors of red fruit and cherry with grilled herb, tobacco and mineral delineation. Its structure is yielding and round and the finish is ripe with soft fruit flavors. Make no mistake, it doles out complexity and an ethereal sense of balsam herb, cola and licorice that is the hallmark of this historic estate with a tiny garage winery in the town of Barolo. The alcohol reading here is 14.5% compared to 14% in the 2010 vintage.

The 2011 Barolo from Bartolo Mascarello is blessed with a divine bouquet, surfeit with red cherries, crushed strawberry, decaying autumn leaves and rose petal, and later a hint of roasted chestnut and Montecristo. The palate is fresh, poised, not deep but harmonious and satin-like in texture. Elegant on the finish, not profound but so, so drinkable and delicious. Tasted at the Vinous off-line dinner at La Trompette.

Mid ruby with orange tinges. Hints of tea leaves and spice, but otherwise firmly locked on the nose. Quite ripe and sweet palate cut through by vivid acidity. Slightly rustic structure and with bags of ripe fruit. Long and intense and only a tiny bit drying on the finish. (WS)