What's in your glass today?

[SirVantes]

[SirVantes]

[Ken Gargett]

27 minutes ago, SirVantes said:

stellar line-up! Mascarello a real fave. visited there last year. wonderful. 

big fan of Rieussec as well. visited there a million years ago. it was a little more less the developed sauternes star at the time. i got bailed up by a dog the same size as a rhino. had a paw on each shoulder and more teeth than a great white about two inches from my face. i did not move a muscle until assistance arrived. 

[SirVantes]

5 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

stellar line-up! Mascarello a real fave. visited there last year. wonderful. 

Thanks! B Mascarello is maybe my desert island wine, and anything Quintarelli is good. I don't drink enough Sauternes, but am getting a taste for Rieussec and Suduiraut.  

[Ken Gargett]

37 minutes ago, SirVantes said:

Thanks! B Mascarello is maybe my desert island wine, and anything Quintarelli is good. I don't drink enough Sauternes, but am getting a taste for Rieussec and Suduiraut.  

a bottle of Mascarello Barolo in Oz will push $700 plus. when we were there, someone asked if they could buy a bottle. normally they don't, especially as it is appointment only. the sign outside the building is about the size of a mobile phone. i was not going to be so crass as to ask but when another bloke did, i said, would you mind. the 19 for around $70 and they were apologetic it had to be so much. wow! i loved the visit, and of course their wines. 

we had a quinterelli earlier this year. always special. but i so very rarely see them. 

[SirVantes]

4 hours ago, Ken Gargett said:

a bottle of Mascarello Barolo in Oz will push $700 plus. when we were there, someone asked if they could buy a bottle. normally they don't, especially as it is appointment only. the sign outside the building is about the size of a mobile phone. i was not going to be so crass as to ask but when another bloke did, i said, would you mind. the 19 for around $70 and they were apologetic it had to be so much. wow! i loved the visit, and of course their wines. 

we had a quinterelli earlier this year. always special. but i so very rarely see them. 

Yes, they are now quite ridiculously expensive. My small stash I had bought about a decade ago, from a local store that was clearing a mix of loose bottles (no, I don't know what is wrong with this world either). When they arrived, I was pretty shocked to find 3 bottles had the art labels. Now I can't bear to open those, even though I know it's the same wine inside as the regular bottles.

I never had the chance to visit the cantina. I believe for the longest time only trade visitors were cautiously welcomed. Old man Mascarello famously only did business in person or by fax, and Maria Teresa is apparently still as a private - I think they still don't have a website or a public email. Having said that, every vintner I spoke to in Barolo about them only had the best things to say about them. I remember walking among the vines with Nicola Oberta of Trediberri, and he gestured to the plot above his and said "those are Maria Teresa's". I felt to urge to genuflect, much like at Gnadenberg. 

[Lucas Buck]

[Mike Mecklenburg]

[Ken Gargett]

16 hours ago, SirVantes said:

Yes, they are now quite ridiculously expensive. My small stash I had bought about a decade ago, from a local store that was clearing a mix of loose bottles (no, I don't know what is wrong with this world either). When they arrived, I was pretty shocked to find 3 bottles had the art labels. Now I can't bear to open those, even though I know it's the same wine inside as the regular bottles.

I never had the chance to visit the cantina. I believe for the longest time only trade visitors were cautiously welcomed. Old man Mascarello famously only did business in person or by fax, and Maria Teresa is apparently still as a private - I think they still don't have a website or a public email. Having said that, every vintner I spoke to in Barolo about them only had the best things to say about them. I remember walking among the vines with Nicola Oberta of Trediberri, and he gestured to the plot above his and said "those are Maria Teresa's". I felt to urge to genuflect, much like at Gnadenberg. 

yes, it is a bit of a bucketlist pilgrimage. Madame Mascarello has a bit of a fearsome reputation but she is actually the nicest person you could meet. i was in Italy with a friend who is probably our top Italian importer - he has been 42 times. we were looking for a few new ones for a client and also visiting some of the places he represents (many years ago, he was also offered quinterelli but had a full portfolio at the time and knocked them back - he is not happy about that now). he still has to call the winery - they do not have email and have no intention of getting it. 

also a fan of Trediberri. 

[Lucas Buck]

[Wlu1988]