1996 - Barolo Monprivato, Giuseppe Mascarello e Figlio

When I was a graduate student at MIT, I could buy all the 1996 Monprivato I wanted at Marty's in Allston for $50 a bottle. Sadly, those days are long gone. As for the wine, it remains immortal. Dark, penetrating and beautifully layered, Mauro Mascarello's 1996 Barolo Monprivato captures the truest essence of this vineyard. The Mascarello Monprivato is usually a more delicate, refined wine, but in 1996 it is decidedly virile, as so many wines are. This is a fabulous bottle of one of the reference point wines in 1996. Readers who own it should be absolutely thrilled.