1996 Bartolo Mascarello Barolo (scuffed label)

The 1996 Barolo from Bartolo Mascarello has seemingly not evolved at all since I last tasted it a couple of years ago, and looks destined to be one of his classic vintages. The bouquet is deep, beautiful and very pure, as it offers up a wonderful mélange of underbrush, red and black cherries, camphor, road tar, a touch of gamebird, autumnal soil tones and a faint whiff of mint in the upper register. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, powerful and completely backward at this time, with a firm spine of tannin, impeccable focus and balance and outstanding length and grip on the very pure finish. In the fullness of time this will be pure magic.