Mascarello/Giuseppe Barolo Monprivato 2020

98 points Antonio Galloni (Vinous): "The 2020 Barolo Monprivato is without question one of the finest wines to emerge from these cellars in many years. Translucent and layered, with captivating textural depth, the 2020 is positively stellar. Bright red-toned fruit, chalk, mint, white pepper, blood orange and dried rose petal come alive in the glass. This statuesque Barolo simply has it all. It's great to see the Mascarello family making truly pedigreed wines once again. To find a Monprivato of this exceptionally high level, readers will have to go back to the 1989. That's how outstanding the 2020 is. Drink: 2027-2050. (Sep 2025)"

98 points Audrey Frick (JebDunnuck.com): "The nose of the 2020 Barolo Monprivato is highly expressive and perfumed with notes of wild strawberries, fresh cut fennel, springtime herbs, and wet stones. The palate is seamless and similar to 2018 in terms of its elegance, but this wine has more structure, well-defined, even tannins, and a bit more body through the mid-palate while still retaining a very approachable and joyful feel. This will be a wine with a wide window for enjoyment and is one of the highlights of this vintage for me. It offers so much pleasure now, and I anticipate it will continue to improve over the coming decades. Bravo. Drink: 2026-2056. (May 2025)"

96 points Wine Spectator: "[$350 list] Exuding strawberry, cherry, rose and mineral aromas and flavors, this elegant red is vigorous yet shows superb harmony and equilibrium. Vibrant acidity and refined tannins lend support as the aftertaste echoes the red fruit notes. Best from 2028 through 2045. (4/30/25)"

96 points Kerin O'Keefe: "The fragrant 2020 Monprivato boasts enticing floral aromas of rose and violet that mix with ripe berry, dark spice, crushed mint and whiffs of underbrush and sun-warmed hay. On the full-bodied, delicious palate, velvety tannins wrap around succulent red cherry, raspberry compote, blood orange and star anise before an almost salty close. While it’s already almost accessible, a trait of the vintage, it has the freshness, energy and fruit to go strong for years. Drink: 2026–2038. (Dec 2024)"

94 points Monica Larner (Wine Advocate): "Owing to a warm and sunny vintage, the Giuseppe Mascarello 2020 Barolo Monprivato reveals a soft and generous personality. I would describe this as a more accessible Barolo overall, with silky tannins and a very pleasurable display of bright cherry fruit, cassis, sweet almond and blue flower. It appears lifted and bright to the palate and tastes great straight out of the gate. However, it has the stuffing for aging if you choose. Drink: 2026-2048. (Jan 2025)"

94 points James Suckling: "A complex, sophisticated Barolo that offers dried cherries, wild strawberries, dried citrus peel, crushed stoned and a hint of balsamic. Medium- to full-bodied and structured with mineral complexity and compact, fine-grained tannins. It has a delicate mouthfeel and an even, lingering aftertaste. Try after 2027. (9/19/24)"

94 points Wojciech Bonkowski, MW (TimAtkin.com): "(15%). This winery releases its wines late so the 2021s were not available at the time of my stay in Piedmont. But here is a 2020 as good as the best 2021s. Still extremely youthful with a hint of raw oak and blonde tobacco, it follows with beguilingly textured, almost creamy raspberry Nebbiolo fruit on the palate. This as always at Giuseppe Mascarello is much on the ripe side, with high alcohol and an almost sweet character to the fruit, the supple acidity typical for 2020, so it will not be the longest-lived Monprivato, but the depth of flavour and sheer purity are memorable. (Oct 2025)" 93 points John Gilman (View From the Cellar): "The 2020 Barolo “Monprivato” from Mauro and Guisseppe Mascarello is again a ripe wine in the style of the vintage, tipping the scales this year at a full fifteen percent octane. Despite being a riper vintage, the wine’s aromatic constellation is pure and precise, wafting from the glass in a mix of cherries, gamebird, a lovely base of soil tones, bonfire, fresh oregano, camphor and a lovely topnote of rose petals. On the palate the wine is bright, tangy, full-bodied and beautifully transparent down to its soil, with a lovely core of red fruit, firm, buried tannins and lovely length and grip on the complex and well-balanced finish. This carries its alcohol very well indeed, with only a faint sense of backend heat perking up on the finish. It is still early days for the 2020 Monprivato, but I would not be surprised to see it age along the lines of the better Baroli from the 2000 vintage. 2045-2075+. (Nov/Dec 2024)"