Good luck. It made winesearcher pro today showing Empire Wine. Their site said sold out so I called to be told that they received 6 bottles.
Wow. Why so little? Was 2010 such a short cropped year for them? (I know it was at other producers)
I have been looking for a few more bottles for a couple of weeks now. Pretty much everything that shows up on wine searcher under $130, you can say goodby unless you order at 4am or whenever the alert pops up.
I think it was a bit short, from what I hear, but nothing like Burgundy. But I think it is the hype surrounding the vintage (and perhaps this particular wine), and the fact that it is $125, rather than $250 like Cascina Francia or close to $200 like Giuseppe Rinaldi, which makes it a “deal” so to say.
You guys know that B Mascarello’s more expensive ex-domaine than G Rinaldi right? And that the Rinaldi daughters are smart enough to know gouging when they see it?
I had no idea - but the Giuseppe Rinaldi wines have been much more expensive here than in the EU, and they are even more so in the case of the 2010 vintage.
Is it your opinion that Rinaldi>B.Mascarello? Not mine. I haven’t bought any '10 Barolo, as I’m 60. But I recently backfilled a mixed case of '04 and '01 B.Mascarello Barolo for less than $125/ea.
I’ve been on the lookout for B. Mascarcello’s 2010 and would love to have a few bottles, but, when there is so much excellent-to-great Barolo available for $60 to $80, I’m not willing to chase it up above $125.
Empire might have gotten so little because of the incredibly stupid way NY State is telling wholesalers to do allocations now, which, from what I’ve read, is equal quantities for anyone who asks, regardless of order history. I don’t know how strongly it’s being enforced or how widely followed, so maybe not, but it’s a theory. That just seems like very little for a store like that. Has some critic given this a crazy score?
This is the one '10 Barolo that I’ll pay a marginally usurious price for. I’m a sucker for Bartolo.
That’s not what I said. I just pointed out that G Rinaldi is much cheaper ex-domaine, which seems at odds with US pricing of $125 for B Mascarello vs $200 for G Rinaldi.
It does happen to be my personal option that G Rinaldi>B Mascarello, but that’s a totally separate discussion 
What is the price of G Rinaldi ex-domaine? The 2010 B Mascarello was 47 euros (up from 43 euros for the 2009) and a very fair price, especially considering the 2x markup to ship it to the US.
I was told on a visit last month that 2010 production was down (not sure how much) and that they produced 15,400 750ml bottles and 1239 magnums in 2010. They were limiting sales at the cantina because once the scores came out, their resellers were trying to buy multiples of their normal purchases.
One other interesting note was that the 2010 had the longest maceration of any they could recall, at 56 days, when it was stopped due to the beginning of the Christmas holidays.
I haven’t tried the 2010 G Rinaldi yet, but the B Mascarello is a very fine bottle of Barolo in 2010 and I was glad to get it at the Cantina.
I’ll trade someone a case of the 10 Bartolo for a case of Rinaldi’s Brunate…! It would have to be a trans Atlantic swap though…
I’d even pay the difference in the ex cellar price. Can’t find Rinaldi for love nor money in the U.K…
The importer is the issue on the G. Rinaldi wines. Always has been, always will be.
If it’s an issue with the New York State rules, then we may find this while cruising various Wine and Liquor shops around town. You just have to hope they store it well. I’ve seen way too many top shelf wines stocked next to door heaters in NYC shops.
Just who is the importer for Beppe? I cannot recall ever seeing an importer on a bottle…
Always?! Rinaldi has only become a culty thing in the last couple of years. Prices were comparable to other good but non-trophy Barolos until recently.
Vinifera.
I wonder if at bunch of folks new to these producers will buy the 2010s, because they are point chasing, only to realize they are not even remotely drinkable in the first 10-15 years?
I suspect this happened with 1er and GC 2010s in the Cote d’Or as well.
-mark
Just picked some '07 Bartolo Mascarello at a good price. I’ll keep backfilling.
I have been backfilling all year. While everyone is going crazy for 2010–I’ve sat back and waited for opportunities to come along, all the while buying '99, '96, and '89 Barolo. I think we’ve hit a saturation point with the early release stuff, and now the late releases have stirred the market. So yes, I will buy 2010 Bartolo Mascarello, but I’m not chasing down some little known wine shop in Jersey that gets it on their website first.