1999 Giuseppe e Figlio Mascarello "Monprivato" Barolo

“The 1999 Barolo Monprivato is once again stellar. In this tasting, it is the wine's flamboyant fruit and super-expressive aromatics that jump from the glass. Sweet red cherries, pomegranate, hard candy, rose petals and mint meld together as this generous, resonant Barolo shows off its pure and total sense of majesty. Spices and a hint of blood orange develop in a kaleidoscope of aromas and flavors. In 1999, Monprivato is just about as good as it gets. Mauro Mascarello did not bottle his Riserva Ca' d'Morissio in 1999; instead all the best fruit was blended into the Monprivato. Today, the 1999 is utterly thrilling. It's as simple as that. (AG)” (08/2014)

“The 1999 vintage continues to be one of my favorite of recent memory, and the lovely and classic Monprivato should eventually be regarded as one of the finest examples of the vintage. The wine is now moving into a period of hibernation, but despite its closed state, the nose still delivers lovely scents of red and black cherries, gamebirds, fresh herbs, coffee, a classic base of soil and woodsmoke in the upper register. On the palate the wine is full-bodied, deep and quite tight, with a rock solid core of fruit, great focus and balance, ripe, well-integrated tannins, tangy acids and great intensity of flavor on the complex and soil-driven finish. This is not quite as broad shouldered as the 2001, but it may yet give that great wine a run for its money. Clearly 1999 is the 'sleeper' great vintage of the last dozen years. (JG) 93+” (06/2008)