First produced in 1911, the fruit for Massolino’s classic cuvée is selected from seven sites across roughly seven hectares of prime-sited Serralunga vineyards. The most important of these sites—Briccolina, Collareto, Broglio and Le Turne—are dotted around the town itself (Le Turne bordersMargheria while Collareto lies next to Vigna Rionda)—so quality real estate, folks, especially at this price. The 2017 also includes a little declassified fruit from Massolino’s Parussi Cru. Vine age varies from 10 to 55 years.
This is the second year that Massolino’s Barolo wines were fermented in large wooden casks, or tini(previously the wines were fermented in concrete). While the Cru wines below are now fermented exclusively in oak—which Giovanni Angeli credits with imparting more elegance—half of this Barolo was still fermented in concrete. This cuvée spent around 20 days on skins and the final blend was matured for 30 months in large Slovenian oak casks.
The notes below sum this up well: it’s surprisingly approachable with a fleshy, open texture and really fine, almost invisible tannins. It doesn’t necessarily seem like a wine for long aging (although we’ve been fooled before with many a Barolo), but it’s nonetheless seriously delicious now. A perfect ‘restaurant release’ that is already showing well.
‘The 2017 Barolo is a gorgeous, harmonious wine. In this vintage, the straight Barolo is a bit lighter than normal, as most wines are, but it is so impeccably balanced. Pliant and inviting, the 2017 will be pleasurable to drink in another year or two. The purity of the flavors is just striking. Red berry fruit, rose petal, mint, cinnamon and crushed rose petal are some of the many aromas and flavors that grace this exquisite Barolo from the Massolino family. So many 2017s are marked by sinewy tannins, here, they are especially fine.’ – 92 points. Antonio Galloni, Vinous
