1996 Massolino Parafada Barolo

The 1996 Barolo Parafada has held up beautifully. Crushed flowers, mint, sweet red berries and anise are all nicely laced together. At the time, the Parafada was partially aged in French oak barriques, and that comes through in the wine's texture and flavor profile. A beautifully balanced wine, the 1996 has enough freshness to provide pleasure for another decade or more. The natural richness of this site plus the extra richness from the French oak yield an especially dense wine relative to the other Barolos in the Massolino range. Antonio Galloni, Vinous.