WineLovers Discussion Group

1996 Guiseppe Mascarello Langhe Status
I found this wine today while rummaging through a wine shop I hadn't been to before in Charlotte. It wasn't priced so I asked one of the wine guys who then huddled up with 3 other wine guys. They went, en masse, off to a computer where one of them stroked a few keys, they all peered close to the screen, then looked to each other, and shrug. Well, the price this morning was $34, but now it's $14. Can't pass up that deal especially because the store was a chilly 60-65deg inside while it was over 90 outside.

The color is deep dark plum with a slight bit of bricking at the rim. The wine takes about an hour to show anything but when it does, it's suprisingly lush with cinnamon, fresh fennel, and dried violets. Any fruit that has dissipated from the nose is still quite evident in the taste. Lots of rich dark fruit flavors, very full mid-palate, still gripping tannins, and good acidity. The way that this "lesser" nebbiolo/barbera blend is showing so wonderfully at 10yrs makes me even more anxious for the '96 baroli to bloom. I wouldn't pay $34 for this but at $15 (or even $20) it is well worth it. Yet another excellent wine from Mauro Mascarello.

I can't remember what I've paid for it in the past, but since most of can't afford barollos this is a great alternative, especially at the price you paid. Great notes by the way.

Ya, this is pretty good stuff, James, especially for the price.