2021 Massolino Barbaresco

WINEMAKER: Franco & Roberto Massolino and Giovanni Angeli
REGION: Piedmont, IT
VARIETY: Nebbiolo
VITICULTURE: Organic

The 2021 Barbaresco is a blend of three parcels in Neive: Albesani, Serraboella and Starderi. Of these vineyards, Albesani is the best known and is covered in more detail below. Serraboella, which accounts for the lion’s share of the blend, is one of the most highly regarded sites in the eastern sector of Neive. Massolino’s vines lie on the preferred southwest-facing hill, on light soils overlooking the village. Finally, Starderi lies on the western side of Neive. It’s a sunnier terroir that brings power and flesh to the blend. The winemaking hardly differs from the Barolo wines. Natural fermentation takes place in large oak fermenters. The 2021 saw about 12-15 days on skins before aging in large, 5,000-litre Slavonian oak barrels for 18 months. The 2021 is a superb release-—so pretty, perfumed and fine. The palate is loaded with juicy fruit and fine, powdery tannins. Good length, great finesse!

The high-altitude chalky hillsides of Serrralunga d’Alba, on the eastern edge of the Barolo DOCG, produce some of the most profound and long-lived Barolo wines. It is the home of great names such as Giacomo Conterno and Bruno Giacosa’s Falletto vineyard. The wines often have an extra stuffing of intense Nebbiolo fruit as well as a remarkable minerality that plays on both the freshness of the tannins and gives the wines a certain ferrous edge when young. Massolino’s Barolos sit comfortably among the finest of the region—they are wines of wonderful purity and elegance. The wines have earned an immaculate reputation in Australia, and deservedly so.