History
A lot has changed in the legendary wine-making region of Piemonte. Over the past two decades a new wave of producers has emerged in the region, revealing different personalities of the majestic nebbiolo grape. And to their credit, the modernists have made Barolo more approachable. However, Barolo is a wine of patience and, like the great wine-making regions of Europe, it possesses an ancient, glorious past that cannot be forgotten. There is a handful of gladiators who continue to protect this past way of life and resist all temptations to bow to commercial pressures. The use of long maceration (capello sommerso) and aging in large old barrels (botti) of local oak and chestnut are perfected, not disregarded. These true artisans are Piemonte’s greatest producers: Giacomo Conterno, Bruno Giacosa, and, most notably, Bartolo Mascarello. This great man who passed away in March, 2005 still has a cult following.
Bartolo Mascarello, the great elder statesman of Barolo, spoke with the same candidness and fervor as the younger Angelo Gaja. However, for Bartolo the passion was for the preservation of Barolo’s historic past, which emphasizes the flavors of the local land rather than wood grown in Limousin, France or roto-fermentors designed Down Under. Until a few years before his death, this gentle man refused even to have a telephone in his office.
In many famous Barolo families, younger generations see their new responsibilities upon coming of age as a mandate for an opportunity to shake up their family’s image with new winemaking, new labels, new concepts.
But in a smaller number of famiglie, children view their role as stewards of a noble tradition, bound by heredity as well as conviction, to continue their parent’s important work. Such is the case with Maria Teresa Mascarello.
At the time of Bartolo’s death in March 2005, Maria Teresa had been de-facto winemaker for years, working under the guidance of her wheelchair-bound father and with Alessandro Bovio, Bartolo's winery assistant. She learned all of Bartolo’s secrets and completely absorbed his philosophy, just as Bartolo had a half-century earlier from his father Giulio, and he from his father Bartolomeo.