Replanting in Monprivato

I am pretty sure that there was recently a question regarding the extent of replanting in Monprivato. I can’t find the thread today, and perhaps Ive imagined it all, in which apologies for this subsequently rather pointless post. But since I am here today, and I believe somebody was interested I’ve taken two pics of the replanting.

This first image shows the extent of two replantings, both at the top and the bottom of one parcel directly under the Ca d’Morrisio, which is getting some work done on it.

This second image shows more clearly the replanting adjacent to the Ca where the hillside was re-contoured to remove the top of the hill which pushed some vines into a slightly more northern exposure.

Cool! Thanks. I don’t remember such a thread, but it’s interesting either way. Any idea what percentage of the whole vineyard is being replanted? Any idea how old the vines were?

So there really is a ca. I assumed it was just a historical reference.

When I was over there in 2016, I was struck by how much replanting there was in Barbaresco – way more than in Barolo. Any idea why that would be?

Greg, you might be thing of Antonio’s review of the 2013 Monprivato:

“The estate has recently replanted major sections of their vineyards, including Monprivato. Perhaps there was something going on in the fields that has affected the quality of these wines of late. It’s hard to say. But there is simply no getting around the simple fact that this is the fifth year in a row Mascarello has underperformed.”

I hope it is OK to quote the review because I doubt many stores will put it out there. But if it’s not I will delete the post.

In any case, from your pictures it does not look like a large portion of the vineyard, no?

I actually think Gregory is right and there was some talk of this on the present board; I did not read the review, yet recall it.

Thanks for this info Greg. As my great uncle used to say, it takes two of me to make one idiot. Given this I’ve got a few questions following on from your original post. Can you (or anyone else for that matter) provide some comments on how much of Monprivato has been replanted and a rough estimate of what percentage of G. Mascarello’s holdings have been replanted? Also, I’m a bit confused by the Galloni note posted by Cristian as it indirectly implies (at least to my reading) that the replanting was recent and yet in his opinion the cantina has had issues for 5 years. Assuming your OP photos were taken fairly recently is it right to assume the replantings won’t make it into bottle until the 2018 vintage? Or are those photos from 2009?

Just looking for a bit more clarity if you don’t mind. Thanks.

I’ll see Mauro next week or the week after so I can get answers to your specific questions then.

These photos were taken in March of this year. The vines were pulled in March of last year.

The Ca d’Morrisio parcels of Monprivato were of course replanted, in 1989 I believe, and I don’t recall any significant replanting there since.

Has anyone else observed the thing about recent vintages not being as good? Though too-young Monprivato is so hard to judge and to appreciate, it’s always deceptively simple.

I think it can show oddly when young. On the other hand, when I visited the winery two years ago, Mauro poured me the 2010 that had been open six days or something like that (unrefrigerated, so far as I could tell), and it was wonderful. It wouldn’t surprise me if that showed oddly for the first day or two.

Indeed this is what I saw about a year ago. As for the question asked above: the fraction of the Monprivato which is being replanted is rather small, I would say.
Only the vineyard below the Cascina, from what I could see, and the Monprivato extends much beyond that.

I’m not sure what is meant by underperforming…I’ve been nothing but impressed with the 2010…I haven’t tasted the 13 yet, but I doubt I’ll be sad to have them in the cellar in 20+ years…

Greg and Gilberto, thank you so much for your responses. Greg, I really appreciate you passing along the questions to Mauro next week. I look forward to learning more.

Kirk, I’m with you. I’ve had the 2010 at least twice to my recollection just after release. It always showed phenomenally even though it was always accompanied by other top traditional 2010s like G. Rinaldi, Cappellano, and B. Mascarello. It was definitely lighter than the other Baroli we looked at at the same time but the quality of the wine was unmistakable.

I looked at the 2011 Monprivato in August last year and to my palate it’s the best 2011 Barolo I’ve tasted. Granted it’s not a huge sample set but man oh man was it good. It was also much more open than I expected whereas the 10 was tighter and shut down more quickly. I suspect vintage characteristics played a role in that.

I’ve only tasted the 2009 Monprivato once back in July of 2014 and was definitely not wowed by it. That said that was when I was first starting to seriously delve into Barolo and I’d love to look at it again. It could have been a bottle variation issue or something else for all I know. Regardless, I’ve never been a big fan of 2009 Barolo vintage anyway so I don’t have any bottles to “test” so to speak.

After talking with Mauro and Giuseppe I can report back with little news. Something more or less around 5% of Monprivato is in the process of being replanted. No replanting has occurred in Villero or Santo Stefano. The last two vintages of Monprivato/Ca d’Morissio are the only wines that could have been affected by this replanting and they have not yet been released. Another parcel in Codana has been replanted but that falls outside the scope of this discussion, at least for the moment.

Hi Greg, and thank you for the update, but I am not sure I understand what you mean by “being affected by this replanting”. Do you mind to elaborate?

I would guess he means that the quantities of Monprivato would not be affected before the last two vintages (2016 and 2017, I assume).

Thanks for the response Greg, I appreciate it. Curious information though when you compare it to Galloni’s comments regarding “…recently replanted major sections of their vineyards, including Monprivato.”

As far as i know the fruit from these vines was used through the 2015 harvest, so only the 16 and 17 could have been impacted by their removal. We had started talking about the specific reasons for the removal of these vines and the discussion veered off topic just at that moment so it was left unclear what happened to this fruit in 2016.

It is curious but I’ve walked Villero, Santo Stefano and Monprivato and have only seen the replanting in Monprivato that the Mascarello’s freely admit to so I don’t know what one can say.