Massolino
 
Another producer who flirted with a more modern style, if you can call 16 years of experimentation flirting. I applaud Franco massolino for his honest assessment of these experiments and his return to a thoroughly traditional style. I feel the wines have benefitted from his return to large format wood and find the latest release to be particularly interesting. They are wines that fit my palate well, powerful, detailed and yet not heavy. 
 
 
A little hail in May in this part of Serralunga lowering yields
 
High toned and a bit vegetal on the  clean and fresh nose which is quite zesty and almost peppery with huge polleny floral notes and a hint of peach skin. Very well integrated on the palate this is supple and rich and already showing some evolution with rosehips, burnished fruit, and a touch of leather all coming together on the palate. With fairly important tannins this tightens up considerably on the backend then finishes short and stiff with fine grained tannins. 89pts
 
 
Planted in 1985 under the winery just north, a little sandier than the others, which lends it a floral, sweet dried floral and tobacco that sets this cru apart
 
Mineral and sweetly spicy on the nose with an almost cinnamon, great Chinese five spice character and tobacco base notes and a faint marine saline accent.  Bright and clear on entry this is elegant and full in the mouth with a very traditional feel. A fairly powerful wine, tight with reticent notes of rose petals, plum skin, and red currant fruit in the mouth, leading to a long finish replete with a deep raspberry confiture note, slight vegetal notes and a finale of wild strawberry. Lovely classic expression of Barolo. 93pts
 
 
Very compact, calcareous soil, 70 year old vines,
 
Smoky and briary on the nose which is rich with aromas of  black fruit, and jumps around in the glass revealing sweet dried strawberry and rhubarb aromas, hints of incense, pipe tobacco, and stemmy herb notes. Deep,  transparent and elegant on the palate this is holding back a lot in reserve with a palate that is mineraly today with finely delineated fruit. Crystal clear on the palate with ripe, powerful tannins, great purity to the fruit, great length, long extracty finish with minerality that emerges on the palate and drives the finish like a laser. This is austere and rigid today but with great potential. 94pts
 
 
The top of the Cru in Castiglione, which one would expect to give a more supple wine, but it doesn’t!
 
Very floral on the nose and at the same time absolutely packed with raspberry, black raspberry fruit and black tea notes. Not as complex on the nose as the wines from Serralunga and more obviously fruity. Broad and supple in the mouth, there is a lot of raspberry fruit on the palate with a bit of mineral, and notes of strawberry seeds. This is rich and fairly powerful with great structure and huge ripe tannins that build on the palate lead to a dense and powerful finish. This turns into a real powerhouse in the glass. 93pts