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Margherita Otto, Barolo, 2017

Name: Margherita Otto, Barolo, 2017
Brand: Private
SKU: NYC-[CNSN]-TTSUMMER0826-092226-57-6
Price: 82.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Red Wine from Piedmont, Italy

$82.99

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In what Alan Manley calls the second-hottest vintage after 2003, and a very difficult one, the 2017 is the Barolo where he stopped making all his vineyards keep the same schedule. His Monforte parcel ripened about three weeks after the others, so he fermented it on its own and only brought the lots together after fermentation for the long maceration. He has done it that way ever since. Beyond that, this is the house's faithful assemblaggio, the old Bartolo Mascarello approach of blending several sites into a single Barolo. Here those sites are in Monforte d'Alba, Castiglione Falletto and Serralunga d'Alba (the commune of Barolo itself only joined the blend in 2018). Manley is an American who moved to the Langhe for good in 2011. He founded Margherita Otto in 2015 and named it for his grandparents, and 2017 was the first vintage made and aged entirely in his new cellar under his home in Monforte. He's one of very few people still making Barolo this way, and this vintage shows how a young grower handled a hard year. Only 3,534 bottles in 750ml were made, released in March 2021.

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Antonio Galloni

92 points

"The 2017 Barolo is a very pretty wine. Perfumed aromatics, distinctly red-toned fruit and mid-weight structure are the signatures. Readers will find a gracious, perfumed Barolo that is more finesse than power. There is plenty of tannin, so a few years in the cellar are warranted. Moreover, the 2017 does not show some of the small flaws of the 2016, although it is naturally the product of a less favorable growing season. This is a terrific showing." —Antonio Galloni

Robert Parker

94 points

"The Margherita Otto 2017 Barolo reveals an elegant, medium-weight approach with a generous bouquet of dark cherry, plum, blue flower and licorice root. I love the intensity of the bouquet that hints at the vintage heat and dryness but also leaves ample room for the Nebbiolo grape to express itself in an uninterrupted and transparent manner. The mouthfeel is lean, and the tannins are young, so count on a few more years of cellar aging for this release of 4,600 bottles." —Monica Larner

More about Margherita Otto

If you’re lucky enough to visit the great Bartolo Mascarello, you will be blessed not just with the opportunity to taste some of the region’s very best wines, or the opportunity to meet the incredibly charming Maria Teresa Mascarello (who now runs the estate); you'll meet an American, Alan Manley, who can tell you — in good Westchester English — just about anything you want to know about Barolo.

Taste Mascarello’s wines, for sure, and ask Alan all about them. He has worked side by side with Mascarello for almost 10 years, so he knows a lot. But also ask him about his side hustle.

This side hustle is called “Margherita Otto”. It’s his winery in Monforte d’Alba. There, Alan has set out to do pretty much exactly what Mascarello has been doing for decades.

One of the keys to Mascarello’s success is the blending together of vineyards with different terroirs. All of Mascarello’s come from the villages of Barolo and La Morra. Alan adopts the same blending technique, but with grapes from the other three major villages: he’s got parcels in Monforte, Castiglione and Serralunga. Winemaking, of course, follows Mascarello’s strictly traditionalist approach, with long macerations, aging in large old casks, and so on.

Despite following pretty much exactly the same recipe, Alan will be the first to admit that his wines are not — at least not yet — quite at the same level as Mascarello’s. Wine-making is about making tons of micro-decisions — like when to harvest a particular row of vines, or when to open the winery’s window to let in some cool air. It takes years, and maybe decades, to develop exactly the right intuitions for responding to your particular vines and grapes.

Wine Details

Grape Variety

Nebbiolo
Vintage

2017
Size

750ml
Farming Practice

Organic
Style

Elegant
Sweetness

Dry
Body

Full Bodied

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Tasting Notes & Food Pairings

Perfect Pairings

Classic Langhe cooking: tajarin with butter and shaved truffle, brasato al Barolo (beef braised in Barolo), roast guinea fowl with porcini, osso buco, or a wedge of aged Castelmagno.

Tasting Profile

Expect the classic traditional Barolo profile: red cherry, dried flowers, tar and dried herbs, blending the floral lift of Castiglione Falletto, the power of Monforte and the structure of Serralunga. Long maceration and ageing in large Mittelberger botti typically give a full body, firm, grippy tannins and bright acidity, finishing long and savoury.