Giuseppe Mascarello

In the village of Monchiaro in Piemonte, the ‘Giuseppe Mascarello e Figlio’ winery has been producing wine since 1881. It is one of Italy’s most respected Barolo producers, whose work is closely linked, above all, to a single vineyard, Monprivato in Castiglione Falletto. The estate is currently run by Mauro Mascarello, a fourth-generation member of the family, whilst his daughter Elena is playing an increasingly active role in the business.

History

The estate was founded in 1881, when Giuseppe Mascarello, having earned a reputation for managing other people’s vineyards, acquired his own land and cellars in Monforte d’Alba. His son Maurizio, known in the Piemontese dialect as ‘Morissio’, expanded the business in 1904 by purchasing a plot in the Monprivato vineyard in Castiglione Falletto. In 1921, the family moved to an 18th-century building in Monchiero, where the winery remains to this day. Maurizio passed away in 1923, leaving the estate to his sons Giuseppe and Natale, who eventually divided the vineyards.

In 1979, Mauro, who had taken over the reins in 1967, bought out his uncle Natale’s plots, reuniting the original estate. In 1970, Mauro made a decision that would shape the estate’s destiny for decades: he bottled Monprivato for the first time as a single-vineyard wine, rather than blending it with wines from other plots, as the family had always done. The Cà d'Morissio Riserva project, named after Maurizio, was launched with the 1993 vintage.

Vineyards

The estate covers a total of around 12 hectares. Its centrepiece is Monprivato, which has belonged to the Mascarello family since 1904; they own 6.13 hectares of it, which in fact constitutes the majority of the entire vineyard. Monprivato is situated at an altitude of 280 metres above sea level in Castiglione Falletto, facing south-south-west, with no surrounding obstacles that might block the sun at any time of day.

Other vineyards include Villerò in Castiglione Falletto, Bricco and Codana in the same municipality, as well as Santo Stefano di Pernò in the village of Pernò in Monforte d’Alba, acquired in 1989. Each vineyard is cultivated and vinified separately.

Terroir

The soil at Monprivato dates back to the Helvetian period of the Miocene, approximately 11–13 million years ago. It is a blue-grey calcareous marl of marine origin, rich in active limestone, with a fine, silty texture. This type of soil lies between the lighter, sandy soils of La Morra and Barolo to the west, which produce wines with early aromatic elegance, and the denser soils of Serralunga to the east, which produce firmer, more austere wines.

The Monprivato vineyards occupy an intermediate position: the wines are structured, complex and capable of ageing for decades whilst retaining their freshness. The vineyard is mentioned in land registry archives dating back to 1666, and in 1985 the late winemaker and researcher Renato Ratti included it in his list of the eleven historic vineyards in the Barolo area that received the highest classification.

Grape varieties

100% Nebbiolo, specifically the Micet sub-variety, first planted in Monprivato in 1921 by Maurizio Mascarello. Later, Mauro selected cuttings from these original 1921 vines to replant part of the vineyard in the 1980s, believing that this clone had adapted uniquely to the Monprivato terroir.

The estate also grows Barbera, Dolcetto and Freisa for wines not classified as Barolo.

Winemaking

The approach to winemaking is uncompromisingly traditional. Fermentation takes place under a floating cap using the classic cappello sommerso method and lasts between 20 and 25 days. The wine is then aged in medium-sized Slavonian oak barrels for around 30 months. For Cà d'Morissio Riserva, the ageing period is even longer.

Monprivato is released six years after the harvest. The estate stopped using artificial fertilisers back in the 1970s and maintains low yields through heavy pruning. Monprivato is bottled with a numbered label only in those years whose harvest the Mascarello family considers outstanding. In less successful years, the harvest is used to produce standard Barolo or reclassified as Langhe Nebbiolo.

Wines

The range begins with two Barolos from Castiglione Falletto, in addition to Monprivato: Villero and Bricco, the latter being produced from grapes grown on the Codana plots and adjacent plots on the Monprivato slope.

Barolo Santo Stefano di Perno is made from grapes grown on an iron-rich vineyard in Monforte d’Alba. Barolo Monprivato is the flagship wine and one of the most famous single-vineyard Italian wines. Ca’ d’Morrisio Riserva, produced only in the finest vintages from grapes grown on a small plot of old Mische vines in Monprivato, is among the rarest and most sought-after wines of Piedmont.

In addition to Barolo, the estate produces three single-vineyard Barbera d’Alba wines: Codamonte, Vigna Santo Stefano di Perno and Scudetto; two Dolcetto d’Alba wines: Bricco Mirasole and Santo Stefano di Perno; Langhe Freisa Toetto; and Langhe Nebbiolo.