99-Points by Wine Enthusiast.
You can lose yourself just in the aromas of this drop-dead gorgeous wine, thanks to a lovely bouquet that recalls rose, violet, vineyard dust, licorice and menthol. Boasting a winning combination of structure and finesse, the precise, full-bodied palate features juicy red cherry, raspberry, tobacco and white pepper alongside noble, enveloping tannins. It's impeccably balanced, with fresh acidity.
 
Today, Mauro Mascarello is the last remaining giant of the great Barolo generation that included Giovanni Conterno and Bartolo Mascarello.
Mauro has been the winemaker for the Giuseppe Mascarello estate since the late 1960s, succeeding his father, Giuseppe, and his grandfather, Maurizio, both legends in their time. And like them, Mauro is a traditionalist dedicated to long fermentations and aging in old botti.
But Mauro has also made important changes, not the least of which was the creation of a single Barolo from the great Monprivato vineyard in 1970. Prior to that year, his family had always made their towering Barolos and Barolo Riservas by blending Monprivato fruit with grapes from other sites.
Barolo
 - Made from 100% Nebbiolo grapes, these wines take their name from the village of Barolo. A maximum of 205,000 cases per year can be made from 3081 acres of land divided between 11 communes and more than 1200 growers. La Morra, Barolo, Castiglione Falletto, Monforte and Serralunga are the most important communes and produce most of the exported wine. 
Barolo is a powerhouse wine in some communes but also more delicate in others (La Morra is the most delicate and Serralunga the most powerful). Recent technological and viticultural advances are remaking Barolo into a wine that is more consistent balanced. Producers here do not want to change the flavor or feel of their wines, only improve and eliminate poor winemaking technique. A wine of great perfume, body and size the classic nose of "tar and roses" aromas, have a deceptively light garnet color but full presence on the palate and plenty of tannins and acidity. In a well-made Barolo wine, one can expect to find complexity and good evolution with notes of, for example, strawberry, cherry, plum, leather, truffle, anise, fresh and dried herbs, tobacco and violets.
There are two predominant soil types here, which distinguish Barolo from the lesser surrounding areas. Compact and fertile Tortonian sandy marls define the vineyards farthest west and at higher elevations. Typically the Barolo wines coming from this side, from La Morra and Barolo, can be approachable relatively early on in their evolution and represent the “feminine” side of Barolo, often closer in style to Barbaresco with elegant perfume and fresh fruit.
On the eastern side of the Barolo wine region, Helvetian soils of compressed sandstone and chalks are less fertile, producing wines with intense body, power and structured tannins. This more “masculine” style comes from Monforte d’Alba and Serralunga d’Alba. The township of Castiglione Falletto covers a spine with both soil types.
The best Barolo wines need 10-15 years before they are ready to drink, and can further age for several decades.