Barolo, Piedmont
Since he was a teen, Luciano Sandrone wanted to be a winemaker. He began his career as a cellar-man working in the historic Marchesi di Barolo estate, saving his money until he could afford to buy his first parcel of land in Cannubi Boschis in 1977. Because he cleaned out his savings to buy this land, Sandrone made his wines at home in his parents' garage, quietly working and revising his techniques until he caught the wine world's attention in 1989 and 1990 with great critical attention. Since then, nothing has slowed down for Sandrone, and he has become one of the iconic and leading producers in Barolo.
He has built up a top quality wine estate from its small-scale beginnings in 1978, his first vintage, and the wines have been among the elite of Piedmont and beyond. Luciano is a master winemaker with holdings in some of the most legendary plots in Barolo, including Cannubi Boschis, Villero and Vignane. Along with his brother Luca, he has devoted every fiber of his being towards cultivating the finest Nebbiolo expressions from his sites in Barolo and the Roero, and transmitting these expressions through his wines. Barbara, Luciano’s daughter, is in charge of sales and marketing and travels worldwide.
Thanks to the extremely low yields in the vineyard and an obsessive attention to training, pruning, canopy management and harvesting, Sandrone crafts wines of profound integrity, purity and deep expression. These are wines made with passion and honesty and provide great drinking pleasure both when young and with bottle age. The entire range of wines, all limited in production, are jewels of impeccably balanced concentration and precision with the ability to age for long periods of time.
Sandrone’s most famous wines are his 2 Barolos: the Cannubi Boschis (renamed Aleste starting from 2013 vintage to honor the youngest generation of the Sandrone family, Alessia and Stefano) remains the icon and the only cru-designated Barolo, while Barolo Le Vigne is a blend of different sites. Sandrone also produce a gem of a wine from the region of Roero, namely Nebbiolo d’Alba Valmaggiore, a Barbera d’Alba as well as a Dolcetto d’Alba.
“Extraordinary producers of Barolo, Luciano Sandrone and his wife worked at Marchesi di Barolo before acquiring a tiny plot of land outside their native village of Barolo in 1977. Theirs quickly became a cult wine, first with their 1982 and 1985 vintages. Then they made a wine that merited one of the first perfect scores I ever gave a Barolo, the 1990. There is attention to detail in the vineyard and in the winery at every level, and the results are wines that are hybrid creations, paying respect to both progressives and traditionalists”. Robert Parker, Wine Advocate
“Luciano Sandrone is one of the leading lights in Piedmont. No grower has managed to so brilliantly reconcile modern and traditional approaches in making wines that are soft, supple and approachable when young, but also capable of aging beautifully”. Antonio Galloni, Wine Advocate, November 2007
Main Wines
Barbera d'Alba
Nebbiolo d'Alba Valmaggiore
Barolo Le Vigne
Barolo Cannubi Boschis (Barolo Aleste from 2013)