Massolino Vigna Parafada Barolo 2015
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Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Deep garnet red. Bouquet is ethereal and enveloping with intense and persistent notes of sweet spices, sandalwood, tobacco, and leather. Great structure. Remarkable tannins which soften with time and make it a perfect wine for aging. Its very long finish is typical of Barolos from Castiglione Falletto.
Perfect with the rich, traditional cuisine of the region, stewed meats, and medium--long matured cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Forest floor, new leather, rose and perfumed berry align with menthol and tobacco aromas in this stunning wine. The focused, full-bodied palate has great fruit and tension, delivering wild raspberry, juicy Marasca cherry, white pepper and ground clove, while firm, polished tannins and fresh acidity provide support. Drink 2023–2035.
Cellar Selection -
James Suckling
A moody nose with deep blue flowers - roses and violets - and blue plums, as well as a glossy, black stony edge. The nose is incredibly alluring. The palate has a very concise, sturdy and deep core of flavors that follow the aromas into blue-plum territory. Plush, long and commanding tannins. Style and grace. Try from 2023.
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Wine Spectator
Offers ripe cherry, raspberry and currant aromas and flavors, with floral, loamy earth and underbrush accents. This is backed by lively acidity and refined tannins, leaving a harmonious and lingering aftertaste. Shows fine energy and intensity. Best from 2023 through 2043.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 Barolo Parafada sees fruit sourced from 61-year-old vineyards planted in a spot with a steep incline that requires back-breaking labor to farm. Only 4,800 bottles were made with this edition, and those numbers are expected to decrease as the vigor of the old vines slow down as they age. However, the deep nature of the root systems means that this vineyard is rarely troubled by drought. The vines produce smaller berries, and this wine sports an inky dark appearance with concentrated fruit as a result. The wine's aromas are beautifully presented and rich with black cherry and dried plum. In the mouth, this wine is generous with thick fiber and ample volume. Give it time to whittle down just a bit with extra bottle aging.
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Decanter
Known for its Vigna Rionda bottling, Massolino emerges in this vintage with Parafada leading the way. This cru in Serralunga typically shows some roughness when young, yet the warm vintage and the great work of the winery are able to compensate here. It is ruby in colour and extremely youthful in the glass, with fresh red cassis and pomegranate aromas and flavours. It develops with a slightly rustic, veracious character: some graininess on the palate and austere on the finish, with an amazing savouriness. Drinking Window 2022 - 2050
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Wine
The history of the Massolinos and their wine became entwined with the history of Serralunga d’Alba in 1896, when Giovanni Massolino founded the estate. An enterprising, tenacious, and creative man, Giovanni was the very first person to bring electricity to the village. Giovanni’s son, Giuseppe, built Massolino’s first wine cellar, extended the estate into the best soils, and in 1934 founded the Consortium for the Defence of Barolo and Barbaresco. Three of Giovanni’s children later followed in his footsteps, expanding the estate with the purchase of cru vineyards which are authentic jewels: Margheria, Parafada, and Vigna Rionda. In the 1990s, Franco and Roberto, both oenologists, joined the family estate. Their work condenses the experience of an entire family and the ambition of a new generation, determined to make an important contribution to the innovation of oenological and agronomical techniques and to the image of the estate in Italy and abroad. Massolino makes wine with passion in its land of origin, preserving the typical characteristics of indigenous grape varieties. Central to the winery’s philosophy is the conviction that there is a deep, tangible link between the vines, hills, and winegrowers, whose connection and affinity to the land grows more profound with each passing year.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “tar and roses” aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.