Massolino “Albesani” Barbaresco MAGNUM 2020

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

Massolino now have two new wines from Barbaresco in the portfolio, Barbaresco Classico with fruit from the vineyards of Staderi and Serraboella in Neive and a Cru Barbaresco from the fabled Albesani vineyard.

Albesani: An iconic and unique Barbaresco

Our classic Barbaresco DOCG is the result of traditional, pure, and respectful vinification, blending grapes from all three vineyards.

At the same time, we chose to highlight our Albesani cru with separate vinification. Sitting atop a stunning hill facing south-west with 60-year-old vines, the exposition and age gives us a wine with more structure while keeping the same elegance. Barbaresco DOCG Albesani releases in September 2022.

The 2019 vintage was moderately warm, but able to achieve excellent freshness and a perfect balance, allowing us to release the first vintage of two top level wines.

About Massolino

Founded in 1896, Massolino Winery, is based in and around the town of Serralunga, one of the prime sub-zones of the Barolo DOC.

The Massolino family’s greatest asset is of course their 23 hectares of (mostly) Serralunga vineyards, including choice parcels of such famous sites as; Margheria, Parafada and the legendary Vigna Rionda. We say ‘mostly’ as the Massolino clan recently purchased a slice of the Parussi cru in Castiglione Falletto. Serrralunga, on the eastern edge of the Barolo DOCG, produces some of most profound and long lived Barolo. 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.

It is fair to say that Massolino holds the most remarkable collection of vineyards in Serralunga, amongst the smaller, quality focused producers anyway. The quality strides at this estate over the last 10-15 years have been remarkable with significant advances made, particularly in the vineyards. Certainly there has also been refinements in the cellars, firstly by Franco Massolino and then by current winemaker Giovanni Angeli (ex Vajra) who has been working with Franco since the 2005 harvest. As always however, it has been the work in the vineyards and the search for expressive and perfectly ripe fruit that has driven the rise in quality at this estate. The resultant improvement here has been very good news for both the commune and Barolo in general. Today the wines of Massolino sit comfortably among the finest of the region – they are wines of wonderful purity and elegance. They are exclusively aged in large casks, so they are ‘traditional’ and yet they offer the best of the “old” and “new” worlds: pure, aromatic, textural, deeply flavoured wines that are at the same time precise, vibrant and distinctly regional. These are wines that score extremely highly on our deliciousness scale. Equally important, these wines are remarkably well priced when compared to the other top producers of the area.

🎧 Listen as Giovanni introduces the Wines and Vineyards

Although a discussion of previous vintages this recording of Giovanni’s last visit to Australia shares great insights into the philosophy of the winery and the 2015 Barolos + 2013 Vigna Rionda.

Where in the World are Massolino’s Vineyards?

Massolino is based in Serralunga, Barolo with the majority of its holding in the commune. As of 2019 they now have access to 3 Cru in Barbaresco: Starderi, Serraboella and Albesani all in the commune of Neive.