1967 Cantina Mascarello Barolo:
Crumbling cork and maderized notes on initial decant had me disappointed, so I put this aside. Boy am I glad I didn’t throw in the towel: With time & air, a nose of cinnamon, sweet cherry, and mint. On the palate, fully resolved tannins and still fresh acidity, with flavors of cherry, spice, and earth. The 1967 Mascarello Barolo is slightly beyond where I experience maximum enjoyment in aged wine but nonetheless remains a gorgeous, classic Barolo. (91 pts.)
Prep: Stood upright for 10 days. Decanted. Significant gross sediment, which collected nicely on the bottom of the bottle, but fine sediment present in the wine, thankfully no bitterness. Took about two hours for the maderized notes to fade and another two hours for favorable complexity to emerge. Drank over the next three hours, so roughly seven hours total air.
A great example of why you should always let old wines sit if they throw off aromas. They often emerge lovely with time in the decanter.
