Only four years have passed since I vowed to keep my hands off of my remaining bottles of older Bartolo Mascarello wines, but my willpower in this matter is not entirely my own and there are larger forces at work! The ’85 vintage from Signor Mascarello is gorgeous and just starting to stretch out into its plateau of peak maturity, as it offers up a pure and perfumed bouquet of cherries, bay leaf, road tar, sous bois, roasted game, anise, woodsmoke and a pungent topnote of rose petals. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied and nobly rustic in personality, with an superb core of fruit, moderate, suave tannins, tangy acids and outstanding focus and grip on the very, very long and complex finish. This is a very fine vintage of Mascarello Barolo, and though it is starting to drink with generosity, it will probably be even better with further bottle age.