Parusso Barolo Mariondino 2018
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator -
James
Suckling - Decanter
-
Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Ruby red, nearly garnet. Elegant, delicate tones of spices and red fruit. Well balance and delicate.
Serve with red meat roasts, truffle dishes, all game and ripe cheese.
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Parusso 2018 Barolo Mariondino is a bigger and more concentrated wine compared to the Perarmando. With fruit from Castiglione Falletto, it also has what tastes like riper, darker and more fleshed-out fruit flavors. This wine delivers lots of power (with 15% alcohol), stems, structure and large-scale tannins, as expected. It's a lot to take in. Best After 2024
-
Wine Spectator
This broad, muscular Barolo boasts prominent aromas of juniper and eucalyptus, yet there are also plenty of plum, cherry, licorice and tobacco flavors. Delivers substantial beefy tannins, which compact the finish, yet this feels balanced overall. Best from 2026.
-
James Suckling
A medium-bodied Barolo with pretty easygoing wild-strawberry and fine-tannin style. Compact and tight, this is tempting even now, but give it another year.
-
Decanter
Light orange red color in the glass. Unusual but super expressive nose, really fragrant cherry notes, delicately perfumed, but so distinct - like potpourri, dried flowers with touches of cola and caramel. Precise and driven on the palate, certainly with a distinct coffee, cherry stone flavor. Good acidity, juicy, mouthwatering and incredibly fresh - freshly picked strawberries and cherries - but it's the savory touch with a real mineral stone cleanliness that grips the tongue and takes hold that is so captivating. Lovely depth on the mid palate, quite a driven style but very linear, direct and taught at the moment. More savory than overtly fruity. Super elegant.
-
Wine Enthusiast
Tart sour cherries leap out of the glass of this vibrant Barolo. Hints of blood orange, dried flowers and savory herbs emerge after the wine spends more time in the glass (a good decant is recommended). The palate shows youthful primary red-fruit notes en masse, with more subtle herbal and earthy hints in the background. Super-supple tannins and classic Nebbiolo acidity keep the wine balanced.
Other Vintages
2016-
Robert
Parker -
James
Suckling
-
James
Suckling -
Robert
Parker
-
Robert
Parker -
Wine
Spectator
Winemaker Marco Parusso was overwhelmed with emotion when he discovered an old document at his family’s estate in Barolo. Dated 1901, the crumbling contract, signed by his grandfather, Gaspare Parusso, was evidence of his purchase of a parcel of land called “Mariondino” – the small vineyard where he first planted Nebbiolo, and where the Parusso story begins. As a humble agrarian, Gaspare began selling his grapes to friends and local cooperatives and added a farmhouse to the estate in 1925 (which still stands today) overlooking the rolling Rocche vineyard. It wasn’t until 1971 that Armando, Gaspare’s son, saw even greater potential in this small piece of land, and began the adventure of crafting his own wines under his own family label.
Without fully realizing it, Armando had slowly begun to transform the family from farmers to vintners. He bought property in Bussia and Mosconi in order to expand production, working closely with young Marco, who became fascinated with winemaking at an early age. Marco Parusso began working full-time in the cellar in 1986 after attending enology school in Alba. Since then, he has successfully grown the estate from a small local winery to one of the most respected names in Barolo.
Besides traditional techniques, Parusso has pioneered the concept of micro-zoning soils based on the individual characteristics of each plot. Individual attention is given to each and every section of the vineyard, adjusting for any particular needs of the vines’ fertilization, pruning and harvest methods. “The purpose of our work is to ensure the longest natural life cycle of the plant in order to obtain the highest quality and most balanced grapes,” says Marco.
Today, Parusso operates on 22 hectares of land, producing just over 100,000 bottles annually. The winemaking is solely focused on indigenous Piedmontese varieties: Nebbiolo, Dolcetto and Barbera. All wines are carefully crafted, combining structure with finesse and elegance, resulting in beautiful, fresh, fruity wines that can be enjoyed in their youth but are also able to evolve and develop incredible complexity over the years.
Responsible for some of the most elegant and age-worthy wines in the world, Nebbiolo, named for the ubiquitous autumnal fog (called nebbia in Italian), is the star variety of northern Italy’s Piedmont region. Grown throughout the area, as well as in the neighboring Valle d’Aosta and Valtellina, it reaches its highest potential in the Piedmontese villages of Barolo, Barbaresco and Roero. Outside of Italy, growers are still very much in the experimentation stage but some success has been achieved in parts of California. Somm Secret—If you’re new to Nebbiolo, start with a charming, wallet-friendly, early-drinking Langhe Nebbiolo or Nebbiolo d'Alba.
The center of the production of the world’s most exclusive and age-worthy red wines made from Nebbiolo, the Barolo wine region includes five core townships: La Morra, Monforte d’Alba, Serralunga d’Alba, Castiglione Falletto and the Barolo village itself, as well as a few outlying villages. The landscape of Barolo, characterized by prominent and castle-topped hills, is full of history and romance centered on the Nebbiolo grape. Its wines, with the signature “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.