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LUCIANO SANDRONE

The late "Mister Barolo" started his little enterprise back in 1977.  We've been fans since his fantabulous 1982 vintage, a stellar Barolo marking a new style and grace to winemaking in this region.  The wines were unknown then and we had little problem in acquiring the wines since they were unheralded. 

You had to be "in the know."

Sandrone worked for another, rather large, winery in Barolo and he had the urge to own his own place.  His brother, Luca, is quite capable in the vineyard and Luciano took care of the cellar.  
Mrs. Sandrone, Mariuccia, took care of vineyard or cellar work...

An old "liquor" man (Eddie Lefcourt) had started a small importing business and one of the first wines he got his hands on was the Barolo of Sandrone.  We were delighted with the quality of the wine and quickly became the president of the Sandrone Barolo Fan Club.  A year, or so later, we actually visited Sandrone and the family seemed perplexed that we'd made the effort just to see the tiny cellar perched on a hill on the road up to the main part of the town of Barolo.

 

 

 

The wines were much in demand and Luciano and Luca looked for additional vineyard sources.  I think the estate now owns 27 hectares of vines, maybe more.  After renting a cellar up the hill, today they have a remarkable, state-of-the-art (and then some!) facility down in the flat below the famous hill known as "Cannubi."

 

 

The new "Castello Sandrone."

In the early 1980s, some people railed against the "new" style of Barolo that Sandrone was making.  His wine was different.  While so many people made hugely tannic wine which was left in some sort of wood tank, cask or cement vat, Sandrone had the idea of using smaller French oak.  (While some viewed this as "modernista" winemaking, Sandrone reminds people that barrels the size of puncheons WERE, in fact, once the traditional size of cooperage used for aging Barolo.  And if not aging, then transporting Barolo...)

 Instead of leaving the wine in wood and waiting to bottle it until the fruit was gone or the wine was, perhaps, past its prime, Luciano bottled the wine earlier.  Suddenly Barolo had lost its "rusticity."  Here was a fellow making a brighter wine which was much more approachable in its youth and which, as it turns out, still has rather good cellaring potential.

Sandrone then received favorable reviews for the wines.  Sales were soon handled by a young, dynamic "ambassador," a fellow who assembled a lovely range of Italian wines.  Other Piemontese notables in this "stable" included Domenico Clerico and Elio Altare.  They would all get together, from time to time, and share their winemaking experiences.  This was unheard of in the region, as most of the, then, "older generation" viewed the neighbors as competitors.  ((I remember inviting another winemaker to come with me to visit a nearby winery and I was told they could go only as far as the front door. "They won't allow me to come inside."))

I'm sure there are some tasters who will view today's Sandrone Barolo as being in the "modernist" camp.  Yet we have found the wines, once they've had sufficient time in bottle, change significantly.  You might be hard-pressed to taste some of the good vintages from the 1980s, for example, and to say "Aha!  This wine was aged in French oak!"  
I opened a bottle of Sandrone's delightful 1985 Barolo in the Spring of 2007.  Classic Barolo...

Sandrone and his lovely daughter, "Barbara d'Alba", had come to San Francisco on a tour of the U.S. market.  I hosted a nice dinner and decanted a prized bottle.  The wine was a classic Barolo and surely any of the "old-timers" from the Langhe would have immediately recognized the wine was good Barolo.

We had a bottle of Sandrone's 1991 Barolo "Le Vigne" in, say, 2002 or 2003.  Here was a wine from an unheralded vintage and the wine was spectacular.  It is important to point out why...It seems to me that Sandrone was one of the first to really have a good sense of the quality of the fruit he was vinifying.  Like a good chef in the kitchen, Sandrone seemed to know how much time to leave the newly-fermented wine on the skins, how much time to leave it in wood, etc.  Yes, you will find vintage "variation," of course.  But we have seen the wines are consistently good here.  That's another reason we're fans.

Each vintage bottling tells the story of that year's growing season.
A great winemaker is sensitive to the vagaries of each year's fruit and works to maximize the quality of the wine, no matter what cards Mother Nature has dealt.

The winery is a remarkable showplace.

They have a couple of special rooms for the primary fermentation.


There's a lovely hall for bottling, labeling and case preparation.

Downstairs in the "cellar," you'll find plenty of cooperage.

Sandrone seems to favor puncheons and barriques.  What a luxury to not have so many barrels stacked one on top of another on top of another!
Luciano is quick to point out the spaciousness of the facility is not for future expansion, but for the ease and comfort of making the wines and constantly making them better.
(If that's possible!)

It's no longer called Cannubi Boschis...Luciano renamed his vineyard "Aleste" for his two grand-kids, Alessia and Stefano.
This raised the eyebrows of the neighbors.

 

 

It's not all French oak puncheons in the Sandrone cellar...

The Sandrone family makes a nice range of wines.  Two Barolo wines head the list, one the famous single vineyard Cannubi Boschis and the other is a multi-vineyard blend called "Le Vigne"  (the vines).

Cannubi Boschis is produced in more limited quantities and carries a higher price tag.  It had typically the more profound and complex bottling, but recent vintages have seen these wines hit a similar level of quality.
We had tasted, for example, the 2013s and on first taste, preferred the Le Vigne.  
A couple of weeks later we tried the same two wines again and preferred the wine made from fruit grown at Cannubi Boschis.

Sandrone sources Nebbiolo in sites near Serralunga, Castiglione Falletto, Barolo and Novello.  The Le Vigne has the Sandrone elegance and finesse.  

Starting with the 2013 vintage, Sandrone has embarked on a mildly controversial name change.
He's no longer calling the Cannubi Boschis Barolo with its original vineyard name, but is now labeling the wine as "Aleste."
His two grand-kids are ALEssia and STEfano.

Some of the neighbors have wondered if the wine will be, in fact, actually from Cannubi Boschis.
Sandrone insists the wine will be the same and from the Cannubi Boschis site, but this change does allow them to use fruit from other vineyards given the name "Aleste" is a proprietary designation.
We had suggested they use the Aleste name for their Le Vigne Barolo and retain the famous Cannubi Boschis name for the wine which is the foundation of the winery.
We pointed out that Romanée-Conti has not changed the name of its famous vineyard, for example.

Collectors and wine aficionados know the Cannubi Boschis name as a prestigious Barolo site and there are wine lists with numerous vintages of Cannubi Boschis.

In 2017 when this Aleste wine is hitting the market, we were dining in a nice little restaurant in Trentino and saw a Sandrone Barbera on the list.  We snapped a picture and sent it to Barbara Sandrone who responded with a note to say hello to the sommelier.
We did.
He said he would like to buy some Sandrone Cannubi Boschis for his wine list.  We relayed that message.
"Oh, you must explain to him the change of name to Aleste."
We did.
"Oh my," he said.  "Do you think Romanée-Conti would change the name of its wine?  Of course not.  I can't understand this."

The explanation of the name change, we suspect, will take years.
But the wine from the 2013 vintage is outstanding, no matter what you call it...you can call it exceptional.
And this is normal for damned near every vintage.

The 2019 is currently in stock...remarkably good wine...typical of Sandrone "perfection."
We sold a few bottles to customers who wanted a good Barolo and were surprised when they returned a week later to buy a few more bottles.
Sandrone's wines are enjoyable in their youth and they age handsomely.

2024 SANDRONE DOLCETTO D'ALBA
Here is a wine, made by one of Italy's foremost vintners and it carries a price-tag within reach of most wine drinkers.
 The 2024 season saw a cool and wet spring, with things heating up during the summer.
Then there were summer rains and growers had to pay attention to dealing with mildew.
Overall it's viewed as a "good" harvest with numerous challenges and so you can see Sandrone was vigilant in making a nice Dolcetto.
Berries on the nose and palate.


It comes from five vineyard sites in Monforte, Novello and Barolo. 

Beautifully fruity...deep and medium ruby in color...very fine.
 
$28.99 (with case discounts).
You can enjoy this wine immediately and it's going to hold nicely for the next year, or so.
We typically serve this at cool cellar temp, 55 degrees or so.



Barbera is also quite good here.  Though you might expect a producer of French oak-aged Nebbiolo to really oak the hell out of a Barbera, Sandrone's is remarkably balanced. I was amused when we dined at the Villa Tiboldi in Piemonte with Sandrone and he ordered a bottle of a Barbera d'Asti which had more wood than you can shake a stick at!    Yet in his own wine, the fruit dominates as it is matured in puncheons, rather than small oak barrels.  I find it far more close to the style of Barbera one finds from Bruno Giacosa or the Mascarello winery  (two stellar traditionalists) rather than the  someone woodsy Vietti or Coppo style.

Sandrone also makes a very fine Nebbiolo from fruit grown in the Roero region known as Vezza d'Alba.  It's called Valmaggiore (Bruno Giacosa makes a Valmaggiore bottling, too) and Sandrone's is matured in puncheons.  You might consider it a mini-Barolo, but the wine tends to have more fruit and a nice measure of finesse.
Recent vintages have been good, but as the price for this is around the same level as some seriously good Barolo, we don't have it in the shop at the moment.

 

They used to make a proprietary red called "Pe Mol" (Piemontese for "peg leg," apparently a tribute to a vineyard worker they have or had)...Though we had success with the Pe Mol wine, the exporter didn't work to sell it and Sandrone finally stopped making it.  

Luciano Sandrone, Gerald and Barbara d'Alba.

 I suppose some people who like "old style" Barolos, wines with gritty tannins and shrill, sharp edges, might have a tough time enjoying such drinkable, graceful wines as Sandrone's.   

His wines cellar handsomely.  They show elegance and brilliance when they're young.  I find them nicely balanced, even when they're from a tannic, well-structured vintage.  Many winemakers dealing with the inherently tannic Nebbiolo grape, have difficulty in managing the tannins.  Some wines take a decade or two for the tannins to resolve themselves.  We like some of those wines, of course, but appreciate Sandrone who manages to find a point of balance virtually every time.





He was a real gentleman and an excellent winemaker.  

He remained a very humble fellow for being as famous in his realm as Mick Jagger or Steph Curry are in theirs.

 

 

Currently available:  

2019 Barolo "Aleste"  SALE $169.99
2017 Barolo "Le Vigne"  Sold Out
2020 Barbera d'Alba $46.99
2024 Dolcetto d'Alba $28.99
2020 Nebbiolo "Valmaggiore"  $49.99

Enjoying a sip of Franciacorta before lunch at Chateau Sandrone
in Barolo at the new facility.
Luciano is a big fan of sparkling wines!




2000 Le Vigne...showing well in 2007...still young and developing.
A bottle tasted in 2010 was in the realm of "exceptional."  The wine is still youthful, but was showing some nicely developed notes of the Nebbiolo...very fine.

Sandrone has a nice "library" of older vintages which they release when the wines are ten years of age for the Barolo bottlings and 6 years for the Nebbiolo called "Valmaggiore."

Mariuccia and Luciano

Our friends Gaby and Norbert with Luciano in 2019

Luciano visiting the Napa Valley in 2013.
We had a look at the Harlan and Bond properties.

Checking the Cabernet vines at Napa's Opus One in 2013.

Alessia with her Nonno, Luciano.
These days she is the winemaker stepping into his rather large shoes.


We visited the winery of Phil Togni and had a great time seeing the vines and wines.

Tasting at Chateau Montelena.

E. PIRA e FIGLI

 

 

 

Pira was a famous name in Barolo for many years.   This guy, Luigi Pira, put the "piedi" in Piedmont.  Pira was a famous name in Barolo for many years.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

He was the last guy to actually crush the grapes with his feet (piedi).  The winery was sold by his heirs shortly after Pira died (and not of "athlete's foot").  Sold to the Boschis family, owners at that time of the larger Giacomo Borgogno winery, E. Pira e Figli is run by the charming and attractive Chiara Boschis.  While the Borgogno wines are very traditionally-made, old-style offerings, we kept our fingers crossed for Chiara to produce wines of greater intensity.  Her early vintages, where she was getting her feet wet, so-to-speak, were quite good. 

Recent wines have been of a quality which challenges for a spot on the short list of top sources for modern and exceptional Barolo.  The Barolo is matured in French oak, so they're not exactly traditionally-styled. 

These wines seem to start out with tons of sweet oak, but if given enough time in the bottle, they "return" to displaying the real character of Nebbiolo from Barolo.  That is, the oak diminishes with time and the wine starts to exhibit the typical aromas and flavors of old-styled Barolo.  "Old styled" , not "badly made".  

 

 

Chiara Boschis...May 2007

2007 Vintage Chiara

 

2019 Vintage Chiara

Chiara's niece Beatrice Boschis helps at her aunt's winery...

 

The 2003 is excellent.  I found it to be one of my favorite wines in a marathon tasting of 2003 Barolo's.  It showed magnificently in May of 2007...we had a bottle in a tasting and it showed well and a bottle on the dinner table was even more enjoyable.  We have had bottles from time-to-time and the wine seems to have closed up a bit and has been hard-edged and even more youthful than it was upon release.
We drank one in 2016...still a bit young!

The 2012s were quite impressive.
We had the Cannubi...this wine shows a bit of muscle.  But even more muscular, perhaps, is the new bottling from Monforte, "Mosconi."
These will need time.

The 2013s are magnificent, as well.  Very cellar-worthy and fine.

Her 2014s, a difficult year, fared beautifully, though they tend to be over-looked by those clutching their vintage charts as some sort of guiding light.

The 2015s are stellar.  We like the depth and power of the Mosconi, which has dark fruit and some sweet spice notes.
The Cannubi is remarkably restrained and elegant.  It is a baby and will blossom quite handsomely if cellared another decade, or so.

The 2016s were both magnificent.
The Mosconi is muscular and deep, while the Cannubi is its usual refined self with sneaky tannins and structure that will allow it to unfold over the next 10 to 20+ years.

The 2017 vintage had a number of wine-growing challenges...frost in April...some high temperatures during the growing season and a decided lack of rain.  You might find some wines from 2017 to have a rather ripe note or some stewed fruit tones.
These are the usual good work from Chiara Boschis.
Brava!

 

Dolcetto and Barbera can be quite good here.

 

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We were amused to read an article by an American wine critic who decried the use of French oak barrels for Nebbiolo wines, contending it was a stylistic mistake and that wines matured in barriques don't age well.
The article then had tasting notes of his top 20 wines from the 1998 vintage, tasted a decade after the vintage.  He wrote a glowing review of the E. Pira 1998 Barolo and termed the wine a "classic."  I suppose he did not know it spent a couple of years in brand new French oak!

 

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Currently available:


2017 BAROLO CANNUBI  $139.99
2017 BAROLO MOSCONI  $119.99


2022 DOLCETTO D'ALBA   Sold Out 

1961 Barolo, still resting peacefully in the cellar at the Boschis' family's old winery,  "Giacomo Borgogno & Figli" facility.
Photo taken by Gerald Weisl.

Aldo Vacca in 2018 showing off wines from the 2014 vintage.
Good wines, too, by the way.

Aldo Vacca in 2019 showing off the 2015 Pora.
Damned good!

 

CASCINA VAL DEL PRETE

The Roero region does not receive much attention from fans of Italian, or more specifically, Piemontese, wines.  The area has long been known to those in the Barolo and Barbaresco appellations as many wineries bought grapes from the Roero to augment their own productions.  If winemakers in Barolo knew the fruit from the Roero to be of good quality, perhaps wine drinkers should explore their options in the Roero.

"We are Sonoma while Barolo and Barbaresco are the Napa area of Piemonte." claims winemaker Mario Roagna of the Cascina Val del Prete.

Viticoltore Mario Roagna, whose mom Carolina and  father Bartolomeo  (Lino to his friends) bought  this estate in 1977.  They'd been share-croppers of the property, so they were well-acquainted with the land.  Realizing the area offered great potential for winemaking, Lino took out some of the other agriculture (grain, I think) and replaced it with grapevines.

Roagna and his brother Luigi have been organically farming the vines in this marvelous amphitheater.  Mario explained he's happy with his decision to cultivate in a biodynamic fashion.
Now they're joined by Mario's son Giovanni, who's a sharp fellow, by the way.

 

Mario Roagna shows off the roots of the vegetation they plant in the rows between the grapevines.  "These roots add a lot to the soil and actually 'work' the earth for us so it's quite an efficient system.  We like to sow seeds of favas and poppies .  Some people look at these as weeds, but they bring oxygen to the soil and this is very beneficial."


These rolling hills are gorgeous.  The building down below with the red roof is the winery.

We've tasted the Val del Prete wines regularly over the years.  They are routinely very good and easily worthy of comparison with wines of more famous estates in the Barbaresco and Barolo regions.

Oak plays a prominent role in the wines of Cascina Val del Prete.
The wines, though, have a nice balance of fruit and wood.

They used to make an unusual style of Arneis, giving the wine a pass in oak.  They've changed to a more traditional style and we find it to be nice, but not different from others.  I can order that for you, as we do not have it in stock.

Our other selection from Cascina Val del Prete is their exceptional "Roero" wine, a red that's made from Nebbiolo.  Now, they make a "Nebbiolo d'Alba" which can also sometimes be sold as "Roero."  For the Roero appellation, the wine might have a drop of the white wine Arneis in it...but the distinctions and differences are foggy.

In any case, the 2019 "Roero" that's labeled as "Vigna di Lino" from this vintner is excellent.  The soils are sandy and this apparently means the wines tend to develop a bit more quickly than their cousins from Barbaresco and Barolo.  Cascina Val del Prete's 2019 Roero is very showy, having dark berry and cherry fruit along with nice oak.  It's a mildly cedary, woodsy red wine, so pairing it with grilled or roasted lamb makes for a good match.  The tannins are modest, so we suggest drinking this over the next 5 to 8 years.

We're also enchanted by their 2016 Barbera d'Alba Superiore "Carolina."  It displays a bit of dark fruit and a mildly woodsy tone, too.
Quite drinkable now and well-priced, in our view.

Currently in stock:  
2019 CASCINA VAL DEL PRETE ROERO  "Vigna di Lino"  SALE $44.99
2016 CASCINA VAL DEL PRETE BARBERA D'ALBA  Superiore "Carolina"  Sold Out

Springtime in the vineyards of Cascina Val del Prete.

Mario tastes wine while his kid is curious to see who's coming to taste in the Roero region...
2008

VIRNA

The name "Virna" is a relative new-comer on the Barolo scene, but the name "Borgogno" is an old one.

Actually, there are a number of producers with the Borgogno name, so this branch of that tree now carries the name of the winemaking daughter of Lodovico Borgogno, "Virna" Borgogno.

Virna and her sister Ivana run this property, one that's been well under-the-radar of most Barolo connoisseurs.

Their Pop launched his winemaking career around 1950 and began bottling wine a decade later.  Now the two daughters have a brand new cellar on the "low" road to Barolo, right next to our friends at the Luciano Sandrone winery.  

The estate comprises something like 12 hectares of vineyards.  

Virna appeared on my radar screen a decade ago and I was really impressed with their "cru" Barolo wines.  One is from Cannubi Boschis and the other is a two vineyard blend of Preda and Sarmassa.  The wines of the difficult 2003 vintage were really good and the 2004s were exceptional, as well.  

Over the years we've mostly enjoyed their wines.  There was a vintage, some years ago,  which I thought had some issues. 
I told Virna and Ivana I thought there was an issue with those wines and suggested the wines be sent to a lab for analysis.
After that they routinely ask me to taste their current crop as I was more sensitive to the quality of the wine that were they.

I had the pleasure of re-tasting the Barolos I had thought were a bit odd and have to say the wines were showing better (in 2017 at 10+ years of age).

A local importer told me he was looking for a second producer of Langhe wines and I suggested he check out the Virna wines.  And he did and he felt the wines were well-farmed and well-made.  Of course, the price of a bottle of Barolo can be daunting, but, having tasted the wines he told me he was going to bring in a few cases even though finding customers for the wine would be difficult in a weak economy.  "The wine is really good and it's only going to improve." he said.

Virna has a new importer here in California and I suspect he, too, is thrilled by the current line-up of wines.

 

We currently have a good 2019 vintage Barolo. 
This bottling is labeled as "Noi." or "us" in English.
 It comes from two sites in the town of Novello from vines planted between 1970 and 1980.  It's more in the "old school" style, though Virna gives this something like 10 to 12 days of skin contact (instead of the traditionalist's 30+ days) so it's not exceptionally tannic. The wine goes into large Slavonian oak to start its maturation and remains there maybe 2 years.  Then into bottle and from there, you're in control.
The wine has mild tannins and classic Barolo fragrances...a touch of rose petal, red fruits and a touch of a spice note.

We received a few bottles of the very fine 2021 vintage of "Noi."

 

The 2018 Cannubi Boschis from Virna was exceptional.  Yes, it's still young.  But it is certainly possible to enjoy this now, especially with an hour+ in a decanter to air.  
The vineyards are planted with the Lampia clone of Nebbiolo and they went into the ground in 1970.  The grapes were crushed and put into tank where they fermented for about 12 days before pressing.  The wine goes into puncheons and Slavonian oak before being assembled/blended and then bottled.  
The 2018 is a firm, well-structured vintage.  

In visiting Italy in early 2018 we tasted many 2014s.  The pundits had been quick to say it's not a good vintage but, frankly, we did not taste one "bad" wine.  We are sure that 20 years ago this sort of challenging growing season would have produced some sketchy wines, but the level of competence throughout the region is very high.

The wines of Virna were amongst the most impressive we tasted.  
Kudos to Virna for making some really expressive wines in a vintage many will downplay.  
But good vineyard sites, well-tended, can produce some profound wines and that's what Virna had to offer from the 2014 vintage.

She has certainly gained a measure of fame over the past 10 to 15 years and is far more visible on the radar of many Barolo aficionados.

 

Currently in stock:  2019 VIRNA BAROLO  "Noi"  SALE $39.99
2018 VIRNA BAROLO "Cannubi"  SALE $59.99

 

Virna uses small French oak as well as traditional Slavonian cooperage for its wines.

In Virna's kitchen...good Piemontese red wine and good Piemontese pasta.


Ivana shows off her sister Virna's handiwork!

The late Luciano Sandrone with his next-door neighbor, Virna Borgogno in 2019.

Virna and Ivana Borgogno in the cellar--2019.

 

 

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