Barolos Made by Cantina Mascarello and the Bartolo Mascarello Winery

• The official name of the winery is "Cantina Mascarello". Wines up until 1980 were labeled "Cantina Mascarello". Since 1982, the wines have been labeled with the name "Bartolo Mascarello".
• Table Key:
  • N = Normal (Non-Reserve).
  • R = Reserve.
  • X = None Made.
  • Canubbi (or Cannubi) = This refers to the most prestigious vineyard in which Cantina Mascarello owns vines. Some bottles of Barolo were labeled with this vineyard name as recently as the late 1960s. To my knowledge, the wine in these bottles is the same as in those without this label. The name was used because of the prestige of the vineyard, but Cantina Mascarello has always believed that the best Barolos are made by blending grapes from multiple vineyards.
  • In fact, here is a photo of a 1960 Barbaresco with the name Canubbi at the bottom, even though Canubbi is a Barolo vineyard and not a Barbaresco vineyard. This wine could not contain any grapes from the Canubbi vineyard.
  • Art = Decorative labels hand-drawn by Bartolo Mascarello or his daughter, Maria Teresa. There are many of these with no vintage. Please follow the link at the bottom of this page.
  • Berlusconi = Labels with a small photo of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi hidden under a flap of paper which has a bug on it. These labels also say "No Barriques, No Berlusconi" written as graffiti on a brick wall. A good example is the 1999 Berlusconi.
  • The Art and Berlusconi labels were drawn by Bartolo starting in the mid-1990s after he was no longer physically able to work his vineyards.
  • I have high confidence in the entries in bold font and those with photos, less for the non-bold.
• Clickable entries are linked to a photo of one or more labels for that wine.
  
  • If you have a photo of wine that I do not, or you have a better photo than the one here, and you would like to contribute your photo, please email it to me (kenvastola "at" gmail).
• Please see the notes at the bottom of the page which include more on the history of the winery and its wines, as well as many labels not listed in the table.
• Table Key: N = Non-Reserve, R = Reserve, X = None Made.

Notes, History, and Other Labels

• The winery was founded as "Cantina Mascarello" on January 1, 1920, by Bartolo's father, Giulio Mascarello, according to A Wine Atlas of the Langhe. He was assisted by his father, Bartolomeo, who was the cellarman at the Cantina Sociale in Barolo. Giulio was born in Barolo in 1895 and died in 1981. Just after World War II, he served as mayor of the town of Barolo. He was a pioneer as a small grower/producer of high quality Barolo.
• Bartolo Mascarello was born in 1926 and died on March 12, 2005. He joined his father in winery in the 1960s and became a legend in his own right. Beginning in the mid-1990s, ill-health kept him out of the vineyards. This is when he began hand-drawing labels. He was an icon of traditional Barolo making.
• Today, the winery is run by Bartolo's daughter Maria Teresa, with help from her mother Francesca.
• More information about the winery and family can be found here.
• Facts about vineyards:
  • The original vineyard was a 1.9 acre (0.8 hectare) plot in the Monrobiolo vineyard, also known as Bussia di Barolo since it is adjacent to Bussia, but in the commune of Barolo. For quite some time, Mascarello's plot here has been planted entirely to Dolcetto.
  • In the 1930s, Giulio purchased more land; first in Cannubi (2.8 acres = 1.1 hectares), then in San Lorenzo (0.9 acres = 0.4 hectares) and Rue' (1.9 acres = 0.8 hectares), all in the commune of Barolo.
  • Finally, they bought a 4.7 acre (1.9 hectare) plot in Rocche di Torriglione dell'Annunziata in the Commune of La Morra. This plot had been owned by a family member who sold them grapes.
  • Mascarello's plots in Cannubi, San Lorenzo and Rocche are planted entirely with Nebbiolo, while Rue' has both Nebbiolo and Dolcetto planted.
• Other labels:
  • Barolo art labels with no vintage.
  • 1995 Barbera San Lorenzo art label.
  • 2000 Barbera San Lorenzo art label.
  • 2005 Barbera San Lorenzo art label.
  • 2003 Dolcetto Monrobiolo-Rue' art label.
  • 2004 Dolcetto Monrobiolo-Rue' art label.
  • 2005 Dolcetto Monrobiolo-Rue' art label.
  • 2006 Dolcetto Monrobiolo-Rue' art label.
  • 2004 Freisa art label.
  • 2005 Freisa art label.
  • 1973 Nebiolo [sic] del Piemonte label.
  • 2002 Nebbiolo Langhe art label.
  • 2005 Nebbiolo Langhe art label.
  • The winery has also produced a Barolo Chinato with art labels at various times, mostly for home use.
• Facts about bottlings:
  • In some vintages (up to and including 1980), both a non-riserva Barolo and a Barolo Riserva were made. In these cases, these wines may have been bottled at different times, but from the same lots of wine. So the only difference between a "Barolo" and a "Barolo Riserva" is that the Riserva spent more time in cask.
  • According to the website of the Ordine dei Cavalieri del Tartufo e dei Vini di Alba the following Bartolo Mascarello Barolos have been bottled under their label (as well as his own):
    • 1971 Cantina Giulio Mascarello Barolo.
    • 1983 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo
  • In 1969, it seems that Cantina Mascarello also made a Barbaresco.

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All original content © Ken Vastola