Massolino “Margheria” Barolo 2021

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

The first time I tasted Massolino’s wines was amongst 10 Baroli from the 2004 vintage devoured in 2015. The Massolino’s sat firmly in the good half. The standard Barolo was a stunner. The Massolino Dieci Anni (10 years) Vigna Rionda Riserva was a revelation. Only released in the best years it was superb. Balanced, complex, so inviting.

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.

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.

🎧 WINE DECODED Winemaker Session with Giovanni Angelli

Exploring Giovanni ‘Gio’s’ start and career in the wine industry through working in the Langhe, with GD Vajra, Steve Pannell in Australia and finally to Massolino for almost 20 years.

His rich insights are revealing.

🎧 Listen as Giovanni introduces the Wines and Vineyards from a session in 2019.

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.

The 2021 Vintage

Having now tasted dozens of 2021 Barolos and Barbarescos they can be summed up as wines of energy and freshness, in general having a smidge less alcohol than usual, fine lines of juicy acid complexed with ripe, sweet and layered tannins. These are classic Nebbiolos with exceptional length and depth of fruit that will in the come years be a demonstration of the entrancing beauty of Nebbiolo.

We’ve seen it in the Langhe Nebbiolos, Barberas and Dolcetto’s from 2021. The Barbarescos and Barolos are living up to their predecessors high standards.

A mild, wet winter created water reserves for what became a very dry season. A long period of fine weather began with spring and lasted throughout the summer, with average temperatures recorded. The harvest of healthy and perfectly ripe berries began mid-September with whites and Dolcetto, followed by Barbera.

The first picks of nebbiolo began in the last days of September, peaking in the second week of October, aided by lower temperatures and a marked diurnal shift from mid-September onwards. In summary, 2021 was a year of remarkable quality, and no doubt in part due to the lower yields

Vintage reports from others to explore

Alessandro Masneghetti’s 2021 Barolo Vintage Report.

In an update to his report late last year Masneghetti wrote:

Late November 2023 update. This is what I wrote three years ago at the time of publishing the first vintage report. Today, after so many tastings carried out in recent months in parallel with the 2019 Barolo tastings, I can definitely say that this will be a very good vintage. More ready and more elegant than the 2019, and perhaps less long-lived (but that is all to be proven). That said, is certainly much closer to my personal tastes.

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.

This 3D flyover is Epic covering each of the communes you can see just how varied and extreme the aspect of each vineyard is and how in the space of a few metres just how dramatically the change.