vertical_align_top
Bartolo Mascarello
(1927-2013)
Italian winemaker
menu
add
Add to my lists
electric_bolt
favorite

About

Bartolo Mascarello (1927 – March 12, 2005) was an Italian winemaker most known for producing Barolo wine. Bartolo joined the family firm, Cantina Mascarello, in 1945 and learned winemaking from his father, Giulio, who in turn had been trained by his father, Bartolomeo. Mascarello spent most of his life tending four small vineyards in prime locations: Cannubi, San Lorenzo and Rué in Barolo, and Rocche in La Morra. He favoured the old-school practice of blending from those four plots, instead of single-vineyard bottlings. A teenage partisan during WWII, he was dubbed, together with fellow producers Teobaldo Cappellano and Giuseppe Rinaldi, ‘the Last of the Mohicans’ for his dogged refusal to let traditions die. For years, Mascarello's unyielding stance branded him as a has-been among some of his peers and Italian wine critics. In the late 1980s and early 1990s international and Italian critics launched an assault on traditional Barolos in favor of dark wines with coffee and vanilla sensations derived from aging in new barriques. Mascarello became the denomination’s guardian of traditional Barolo, as he clung tenaciously to the methods taught to him by his forebears. The producer – who deplored the shift from large Slavonian casks to small French oak barriques – even created a special hand-painted "No Barrique, No Berlusconi" label. He explained: "No Barrique, because I am against the use of barriques in Barolo – I am a traditional producer. No Berlusconi because I don't like his type of politics." The original hand-painted labels are now a much sought-after collectors’ item. Mascarello, who had a loyal core of customers from around the world throughout his career, also started to receive critical acclaim. The Italian wine world was shocked and thrilled when his wine received recognition in 2002 by the leading Italian wine guide, reversing years of criticism. Ironic and witty, he declared shortly before his death: "As the time came to change oak casks I made sure that every corner of the cellar was filled, so that when I die there would be no room for barriques". After his death his daughter Maria Teresa took over running of the winery, following her father’s traditional methods. She eschews marketing or promotion and does not have a website.

Key details

edit section
Born
1927
Died
12 March 2013 (aged 85)
Zodiac
Tags Add tag

Family members

Parents

0
Add parent

Siblings

0
Add sibling

Other family members

0
Add family member

Connections

Friends & associates

Add friend/associate

Bartolo Mascarello dating history

0
add
Partner's name
Relationship type
Relationship status
Relationship start date
+add end date
   to      close
You can enter many date formats here (e.g. 2009, Jan 2009, October 2011, 1 Feb 2009, 4/4/2012, etc)
Description
Relationship sources (on the internet)
close
Rumor only
  • List
  • Detail
  • More
  • Timeline
  • Comparison
  • Gallery
  • Data
  • To-do
No records found.

Children

0
No records found.

Scholars

expand_more
0
Please be the first to contribute to this page!

Family

add
Please set Gender for this person to allow access to this feature.

Parents

0
Add parent

Siblings

0
Add sibling

Children

0
Add child

Other family members

0
Add family member

Friends & associates

Add friend/associate

Missing information for Bartolo Mascarello

edit

Lists

expand_more
7
edit
add
helper: web search

Facts and figures

expand_more
4
edit
add
helper: web search

Activity

expand_more
0
Community menu
  • Edit
  • Websites
Couplepedia · about
terms of use · copyright · privacy
loaded in 0.10 secs
arrow_drop_down
photo_library