The end of the harvest is a time of rest, reflection and thanks. 

Rest: Harvest and vinification are physical and demanding work and the opportunity to take a weekend off after 75 days of straight work is truly savored! Sleeping in past 6am is pure bliss. 

Autumn near Bussia, looking west

Reflection: As we look back at the absolute insanity of these 75 days, we like to pause and reflect on the occurrences of the harvest, where we could have done better, where we hit things just right, and how this harvest fits into the ongoing history of the cantina.  Will it be a year that we talk about with awe in the future?  Everyone remembers the extremes: for example, the absolute disaster of the hail year in 2002 when we lost most of our fruit, or the perfectly easy and measured harvest of 2007?  Where will this harvest fit in?

Thanks: as always, we are simply thankful for our lives here in Barolo, and to be able to make a wine that people appreciate and enjoy.  A successful harvest is an occasion for thanks as it not only reaffirms our ongoing commitment and production of good wine, but also grounds us in the ancient rhythms of the seasons of growth.  

--- 

Please scroll down for a complete report on the 2011 growing season and the autumn harvest and vinification.

Sunset over the MonViso to the west of the Barolo

We hope you enjoy our newsletter. We generally plan to send it out seasonally, four times per year, full of information about the wines, the cantina and vineyards, as well as an occasional "Barolo History" nugget. If you no longer wish to receive future mailings, you may quickly and safely unsubscribe anytime by clicking the "SafeUnsubscribe" button at the end of this newsletter. Rest assured we will never share your personal information with anyone.

As always, we thank you for your continued interest in our wines, and we hope to continue to fulfill your expectations of quality and excellence in the bottle.

With warmest regards, 

Luciano Sandrone

Barbara Sandrone

Luca Sandrone

The 2011 growing season has been generally very good and we think  it will yield wines of fruit and perfume.  However, it was not the easiest as conditions varied quite drastically - more details below.   In the end, as vinification finishes and we begin putting the Barolo into tonneaux in the cellar, we think the resulting 2011 wine will resemble 2007 in structure and weight (even though weather conditions were nothing like 2007).

The 2010-11 winter was wet with snow and rain, which replenished the groundwater fully.  We had no late frosts, but a spell of rain in March soaked the ground beyond its ability to hold moisture and there were some mudslides in the region, though thankfully none of our vineyards were damaged as in the spring of 2009.  An early burst of heat during April, right around Eastertime, caused bud break to be about 15 days ahead of schedule, but normal temperatures returned by the end of April which kept the season from accelerating further.  Flowering was under optimal conditions: sunny, dry and ever-so-slightly breezy.  

Early June was cool with several rainstorms but the grapes dried quickly due to constant gentle breezes.  Many of the region's producers were excited for the potential for the vintage by mid-July, as we had not had excessive heat up to that point and the grapes were in perfect health.  Here at Sandrone we had done half the normal amount of copper and Bordeaux mixture spraying (our regular amounts are already well below accepted levels for organic farming, even though we have never sought certification) and we were ecstatic about the incredible health of the fruit and vineyards.  A small hailstorm swept across the southern edge of Serralunga in late June but none of our vines were affected, thankfully.

Near Novello

August continued the trend from June and July with cooler temperatures at night and warm days. Veraison was the first week of August under still-ideal, slightly cool conditions. But beginning mid-month the heat spiked and the grapes began to ripen quickly - sugar levels shot up as the fruit basked in the intense sunshine. From mid-August until the middle of October we had no significant rain other than a gentle 1-day shower in early September. While the warm weather certainly helped push the fruit along after a relatively normal summer, the continued high night-time temperatures did not allow for the gentle and long maturation period that we look for in the very finest vintages.  

Truffles at the fair in Alba

The 15-day "advance" of the season that started with the early bud break continued through the beginning of September and we began harvesting the Dolcetto fruit on the 5th of September, about 15 days ahead of normal. In this respect, 2011 resembles 2007 - an early bud break and an early harvest. The difference is that in 2011 we did not have the uncommonly even and moderate temperatures of 2007; instead we had a cool spring, then a normal summer and finally heat at the end of the season.

As such, the wines had excellent sugar levels but had slightly higher pH. To keep our acid levels at the best level possible and to stretch the "hang time" of the fruit as long as possible, we delayed green harvesting well into August - otherwise the fruit would have ripened even more quickly, resulting in high sugar levels but with green, underripe tannins. Instead, we did a very late green harvest, cutting away only the bunches that had not completed version evenly (there are a normal level of bunches that remain half-green and half-red even in the best years). This extended and lengthened the maturation so that we could benefit from the cooler evenings that began toward the end of September.

Dolcetto leaves in late afternoon sun

The Nebbiolo harvest continued under warm and dry conditions until the final two loads of grapes came in on Saturday the 8th of October, about two weeks ahead of normal. A vintage that began 15 days ahead of schedule ended the same way, so we are confident that our fruit had the necessary hang time to reach full ripeness.  Luca had a nerve-racking few weeks organizing the picking crew, as so much fruit became ripe at the same time.  Usually we have a few days of calm between the Dolcetto, Barbera and Nebbiolo picking but this year everything had to be picked quickly!  Even the office staff was out in the vines, helping out. The last two loads of grapes came from the Vignane and Cannubi vineyards late afternoon on the 8th and we are most happy with the results!

Vinification and winemaking were straightforward this year.  For us, the main work of making wines is in the vineyards - if we don't start with excellent source material we cannot make great wine, so each of the 5 bottlings we make is made with the same careful attention to detail.

On harvest day, each bunch of grapes is individually cleaned before it goes in the picking basket - we snip off the bad or bruised berries so that what arrives at the cantina is perfect. We employ a sorting table as well before crushing and destemming for a final check. The wine flows down by gravity to the fermentation room (the winery is built into a hill to make use of gravity) and fermentation is by wild yeasts only. Temperature is maintained at 23-24C. For Barolo, the wine is separated off the skins after about 12-14 days, but this year Luciano did one experimental vat with a longer maceration.  If this turns out to be delicious, he will use it as part of the Le Vigne Barolo bottling. Even though Luciano has been successful making wine, he is always experimenting with new ideas and processes (in this instance, with an old-style maceration method), continually seeking improvement in his wines.  We don't rest on our laurels here - every new wine is a new challenge!

Luciano with Barbera during rimontaggio (pump-over)

Once the wine has fermented to full dryness, we pump the liquid to smaller steel tanks, isolate it from oxygen, and allow the biggest sediment to fall out.  After 2-3 weeks, it is "decanted" like this again (we call it "racking the wine"), with finer and finer sediment falling out of the wine.  The Nebbiolo for the Barolo and Valmaggiore will go down into the cellar and into oak tonneaux of 500 liters (we do not use barriques) sometime in the next 2-3 weeks where they will join the Barbera and Dolcetto that are already down there. Malolactic fermentation should be complete by the end of January.

Even more detail on the general winemaking process can be found at our website.  Click here to go to the Winemaking Timeline.

The new wines were released on the first of September:  

2007 Barolo Le Vigne, 

2007 Barolo Cannubi Boschis, 

2009 Valmaggiore Nebbiolo d'Alba, 2009 Barbera d'Alba and 

2010 Dolcetto d'Alba. 

Technical data, ratings and tasting notes for all wines including historical vintages can be found by following the above links to our website.  Links to your country's importer can be found here.

The 2007 Barolo have already received stellar scores and reviews from Antonio Galloni in the Wine Advocate, Steven Tanzer in the International Wine Cellar, and by James Suckling at his new website JamesSuckling.com. Interestingly, both James and Antonio gave the same scores for the two wines: 96 for the Le Vigne and 97 for the Cannubi Boschis. We thank both James and Antonio for their support of our wines.

New Release Spotlight on 2009 Valmaggiore.  

This wine has received glowing reviews and we could not be happier with its development over the two years since we made the wine. 

Cantina Tasting Note:

This wine has the lovely dusty rose color we associate with our vineyard in Valmaggiore.   Red cherry fruit and floral elements dominate the nose, with notes of red cassis, subtle fine licorice and tight minerality.  The palate is red stone fruits with notes of rose and cola nut.  This wine shows the character of Valmaggiore: elegant structure, ripe fruit, mid palate richness and expressive aromatics.

Antonio Galloni in the Wine Advocate:

92 points, #197, Oct 2011

We are pleased to announce that this year we have finalized agreements on two new pieces of vineyard land: 1.5 ha in the Baudana Cru of Serralunga d'Alba and 1.2 ha of the Villero Cru in Castiglione Falletto.  Both vineyards will be used to provide fruit for the Le Vigne Barolo bottling. 

Baudana is divided into two parts: a half-hectare portion on a gentle west-southwest slope planted with 35-40 year-old Nebbiolo vines, and a steep undeveloped hourglass-shaped hectare with perfect south exposure. The already-planted part is in excellent condition and this fruit will be used in the Le Vigne bottling beginning with this vintage (2011). We completed drainage improvements this summer on the undeveloped part and will plant it next spring.  We expect that this part will become a truly great cru as the slope, exposure and terrain are stupendous.  The addition of this fruit into Le Vigne will add some of the characteristics of Serralunga d'Alba to that wine: structure, intense tannins and longevity.

Beautiful old vines in Villero

The Villero Cru in Castiglione Falletto is a famous vineyard and the chance to rent 1.2 ha of perfectly exposed and well-cared vines for long-term was unexpected, but we had to take advantage of this amazing opportunity.  The vines range from a small newer section that is 10-12 years old to an older section that we estimate is about 45 years old.  These are beautiful vines and their fruit will add complex aromas and midpalate richness to the Le Vigne Barolo.  

At the cantina itself, Luciano finally finished installing some racking for his personal wine collection - bottles he has bought or been given as gifts over the years.  There's a good bit of Burgundy, Mosel and Champagne down there.  Until a few months ago, this room was unorganized stacks of boxes and crates.  Imagine his surprise when he found a bottle of his first vintage - 1978 - long-forgotten in a carton.  This is the only bottle of this vintage still at the winery!