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Cannubi Long Color

News from the Cantina   

December 3, 2015

In This Issue
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For more information on tasting events around the world, please go to our "Events" page.  

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B+D Grand Tasting  

Paris: Dec 4 & 5


Bettane + Desseauve
Wine Experience Paris


We will be pouring the 


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December 6, London

Janis Robinson hosts her 3rd annual Barolo Night.

Our 2011 Barolo Cannubi Boschis will be poured at the event.

For more information and tickets click here.

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As more information becomes available, such as our booth number and location at the fair, we will post it to our events page.

RecentPress---------

Recent Press


WE Logo Long
named #42 of 
"Top 100 Cellar Selections 2015" 

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AIS 
Associazione Italiana Sommelier
has awarded the 

the highest possible recognition of "4 vines" - thanks to all the staff and members of the AIS!

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Gambero Rosso

We have just received advance notice that our 
2011 Barolo Cannubi Boschis 
will receive the coveted "Tre Bicchieri" award from the Gambero Rosso.

Grazie!
GR Tre Bich2

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(USA)
 
Many thanks to Antonio for his forthright criticism, for encouraging our work and his longtime support of the wines of the Langhe!
 
vinous logo 

Galloni rates 2011 Barolo

Just published: Antonio has posted a new article on a "First Look" at 2011 Barolo.

Link to the full article here
(subscription required)

"Luciano and Luca Sandrone's 2011 Barolos are gorgeous. They also reflect some of the important shifts taking place in Piedmont; namely keeping green harvests from being excessive, leaving more leaf cover and picking a little earlier. For a few years now Sandrone has been among the first to bottle, preferring to give the wines less time in barrel, but more time in bottle before release in order to preserve freshness."

95+ points
"Sandrone's 2011 Barolo Cannubi Boschis is a drop-dead gorgeous beauty. Flashy, supple and radiant, the 2011 is already quite open and expressive. Cannubi Boschis impresses for its centerdness, solid core of fruit and exceptional overall balance. This gorgeous, voluptuous beauty is shaping up to be a jewel of a wine. Next to the sensual, layered Le Vigne, the Cannubi Boschis is a decidedly vertical, powerful Barolo." 

96 points
"Rose petal, mint, crushed flowers, sweet red berries and cinnamon are some of the many notes that take shape in the glass. A wine of exquisite perfume and aromatic lift, the 2011 Le Vigne is all about finesse and pure texture. With time in the glass, the 2011 blossoms into a layered, head-turning wine. This is a great effort from Sandrone. In 2011, Le Vigne includes fruit from Villero for the first time. Few wines straddle the modern and traditional with this much pure finesse."

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Wine Advocate rates 
2011 Barolo
(USA)
WA Logo

Wine Advocate reviewer Monica Larner covered 
the 2011 Barolo in 
Issue 219 of the Wine Advocate.

"The 2011 vintage of Barolo does present warm-weather characteristics with some jammy aromas, soft tannins, an immediate style and thick extraction. Generally speaking, the wines are bold, opulent and more appropriate for medium-term drinking.


94 points
"The 2011 Barolo Le Vigne is an opulent and shapely wine with a point of extra cherry softness that you don't get in the 2011 Barolo Cannubi Boschis. That wine shows more austerity and vigor compared to this expression. But Le Vigne delivers an unexpected touch of roundness and opulence that fits the historic profile of this beautiful rendition of Nebbiolo. It presents a slightly more immediate style but it also has the inner grace and poise for a long cellar evolution. Drink: 2017-2030."

2011 Barolo Cannubi Boschis
95 points.  
"Luciano Sandrone's 2011 Barolo Cannubi Boschis is shaping up to be one of the protagonists of the vintage. I say "shaping up" because the wine is still in a youthful stage and has yet to open up fully. Tight and firm, it shows the potential for enormous depth and dimension with dark fruit, spice, licorice and white truffle. If you taste through Sandrone's older vintages, it is apparent that they perform exceptionally well in warm years like 2011. It promises a rewarding evolution ahead but I would suggest waiting five more years before popping the cork. Drink: 2018-2030."

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(USA)
Reviews 2011 Barolo
Reviewer: Kerin O'Keefe: 

WE Logo Long

94 points. 
October 1, 2015
"Underbrush, scorched earth, dried berry, violet and spice aromas slowly emerge on this generous, polished wine. On the palate, fine-grained tannins frame dried black cherry, grilled herb and anise. It's almost accessible and is going to offer terrific drinking in the near and mid-term. Enjoy 2017-2026."
 
96 points. 
October 1, 2015
"Initially shy and brooding, it eventually reveals a potpourri of aromas, including forest floor, graphite, wild berry, mint, rose and a balsamic note. The palate delivers layers of ripe red cherry, black raspberry, tobacco, ground pepper, menthol and cinnamon alongside youthfully assertive but ripe tannins. Drink 2019-2031."

 
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La Revue de Vin de France
(FR)
 
Revue de Vin Logo  
has included Barbara and the Sandrone Cantina in a recent article on the region. 
 
The article recommended two "tours" and we are included in the pedestrian tour of the village of Barolo. The writers recommend our 2010 Valmaggiore 
as a "do-not-miss" wine.
 
Page 1 of the article here.
Page 2 with itineraries here.
  
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Greetings!

November came to the Langhe and brought unseasonably warm days and very cool nights. Typically we woke to deep fog in the morning, which cleared by midday. The brilliant afternoon sunshine of the last few weeks has been a lovely finish to a very satisfying year, allowing the vines to continue to eke out a last bit of energy to store for winter before the leaves fall. The colors have been amazing - Dolcetto in its purple and red hues, Barbera's bright and vibrant orange, the yellow of the Nebbiolo - and the varied carpet of intense colors stretches over the steep hills. It was a beautiful month.

Toward the end of November the weather cooled and finally we have frost most mornings. This helps the vines go dormant, a needed period of rest for them before the next season's growth. December started cold and clear - great weather for beginning the winter pruning.

Foggy Morning
The winery at sunrise on a foggy, frosty morning. Dec 3, 2015 sunrise.

The harvest ended on the 13th of October and we could not be happier. Late September rains complicated the picking schedule somewhat, but the fruit come in exceptionally health and ripe. It will be a good vintage!

As the year comes to a close we look back on the work of making our wine, we feel gratitude for those whose support for and trust in the wines we bottle allows us to continue the work we do: to make wines of great character, quality and precision. First and foremost we thank our consumers, without whom we could not do what we do - but we also thank the people all over the globe who support our work: our importers, distributors and wholesalers around the world, as well as our local suppliers (where would we be without quality barrels, well-composted manure for fertilizing, or the nursery that prepares our planting stock to Luciano's exacting needs?) ... and last but certainly not least, the many restaurants, sommeliers and wine shops who believe in the work we do, and are our ambassadors to the drinking public. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

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Autumn, of course, also brings the onset of school, the next generation of Sandrones continue their studies: Alessia and Stefano at the Istituto Enologico, and Giacomo at the Liceo Scientifico. All of them helped with the harvest and were present with the vinifications as class schedules allowed. It is a joy to have the next generation of family working hand in hand with the current ones, and gives us all great satisfaction that our family's knowledge is being passed on. We hope to be making wine here for generations!

Fog under Monforte d'Alba and Novello (in the distance), November 2015

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As always, we thank you, our collectors and clients, 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 
 
PS. For those of you that are receiving this the first time, we hope you enjoy our newsletter. We send it out seasonally, four times per year, full of information about the wines, the cantina and vineyards. 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.

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Baudana 2015
First grapes from Baudana, October 2015. L-R: Cristian, Luca, Marian.

2015 Harvest and Vinification

Trajio
Trajco topping a tank.
The Nebbiolo harvest began in Valmagiore on the 29 September and was complete by the first of October. The Barolo vineyards were begun on the 28 September and finished by the 13th of October. The end of the harvest period was characterized by sunshine with intermittent rains which made planning more reactive than proactive. 

The several brief showers forced us to delay a few harvests by a day while the grapes dried out. The rain that fell was insufficient to affect the quality of the grapes - the rainwater ran off the hillsides without penetrating the ground. No problems with mold were reported as the sun dried the grapes out quickly. Luca and his crew worked morning to night on the clear, sunny days to make sure the fruit was brought in during the period of optimal ripeness. We took a few extra pickers this year - in addition to help from the cantina's admin staff - to make sure that everything came in healthy, ripe and clean. 

Cristian _ Cristina
Cristian & Cristina preparing wine for shipment.
This year, in addition to our usual vineyards, we were able to secure a piece of land planted to Nebbiolo and Barbera adjacent to our holdings in Baudana of the village of Serralunga d'Alba on a long-term lease. The first fruit harvested from this vineyard shows exceptional promise. The vines are about 30-35 years old - in the prime of their qualitative and quantitative production life - and have similar character to the fruit from the upper section of Baudana. Both of these slopes are south to southwest facing and rich in clay which gives the resulting wines more tannins, acid and potential longevity. The Nebbiolo fruit is used for the Le Vigne Barolo bottling, and helps it gain additional structure.

Vinification proceeded as usual. Instead of a single "pié de cuve" that allows only a single strain go yeast to ferment a vintage's production, Luciano's technique encourages the specific yeast strain in each individual vineyard lot to emerge. Our warm maceration period before fermentation starts allows each lot to begin fermenting on the yeast that grew on those particular vines - thus each picked lot is a precise reflection of each individual terroir. Macerations lasted 12-18 days and fermentations were monitored for fruit, tannin, acidity and color (among others) before being racked off the skins. The fermentations were completed by the end of October and the Barolo has been racked twice for a first, rough clarification, taking the settling wine off the rough lees of fermentation. In the next two weeks all the wine will be moved to the cellar, into tonneaux, and the malolactic fermentations will have begun.

Flora & Dorina
Flora and Dorina sterilizing picking crates.
For the last month, as the vinifications finished, we have done our annual cleaning and maintenance work on the harvest equipment. Every crate, machine, trailer, pair of shears is thoroughly sterilized before being put into storage. And of course we have been shipping out the new releases of wines (more below) as time allows. 

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The New Library Cellar and Tractor Barn! 

Continuing our big news from the previous winter is the near-completion of the new Library Cellar and Tractor Garage building. The building is finished except for interior finishes in the cellar and we have already moved some of our equipment into the garage - it is fantastic to have sufficient space for all the tractors, trailers, attachments and tools in one, large space. Che Lusso! 

Tractor Barn
The new Tractor Barn, Nov 19, 2015. The main work is completed and all that remains are the interior finishes of the underground aging cellars.

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Luca and Luciano
Luca and Luciano in the new library cellar, still under construction,
Nov. 2015
As we wrote in the last newsletter, this project became necessary as we find that our library program is very important for both our long-term restaurant clients and for the ongoing historical memory of the winery. We currently hold back about 10% of each of the 3 Nebbiolo-based wines each vintage under our "Sibi et Paucis" program. This program has grown significantly over the last 15 years. 

Valmaggiore is held back an additional 4 years before re-release, the Barolo bottlings are held back from 4-10 additional years (obviously, it requires a lot of space to store these bottles!). Each vintage we make requires space for 3 stacks of bottles (one stack for each of the three Nebbiolo bottlings) for many, many years. We don't sell this stock quickly - these are bottles that trickle out over the ensuing years, mostly to replenish restaurant wine lists that want to keep verticals of our wines. Currently we have library stacks going back to the 1990 vintage for the two Baroli, and Valmaggiore is represented back to 2001.
                  
Library cellar subsoil
The substrata of the cellar (the clearly visible sediment layers) which provide humidity and natural cooling to the new Library Cellar for the Sibi et Paucis bottles.
When we put aside Sibi et Paucis bottles, the wine is exactly the same as what is put into the market at the time of original release. All of our wines are bottled at the same time from a single tank to insure that the first bottle off the line is exactly the same as the last. We simply place approximately 10% of each Nebbiolo wine aside for extra aging in Luciano's library cellar under ideal conditions. The only difference between the regular and Sibi et Paucis releases is the metallic seal on the S&P wines, which indicates that the wine was aged in the winery's library under perfect conditions.

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The new aging cellar was built to be constantly cool and humid year-round, and to consume as little energy as possible while maintaining the perfect environment for long-term storage. We built the cellar with the subsoils and bedrock exposed (see picture at right), which provides natural and passive cooling and humidity directly from the underlying deposits of clay, sand and tufa. One can clearly see the sediments, as well as water slowly leaching out of the rock, when standing in the cellar. For us, this makes sense in terms of Luciano and the family's personal belief in long-term sustainability - we want to be making wine here for the next hundred years! 
          
Tractor Barn Interior
The ground-level interior of the new Tractor Barn

Aging Cellar
The new aging cellar, directly underneath the tractor area. We will finish the floors and lighting over the next few months and move the Sibi et Paucis library cellar here. This will give us enough space for 20+ vintages of library stock.
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BLV sp bottle-box Recent Tastings: Older Vintages from Luciano's Personal Cellar 

Once in  while, we open an older bottle to see how it is maturing and developing (but also to enjoy the result of our work!). This section of the Newsletter is to share any recent tasting of older vintages with you.

In October we took the opportunity to take a look at the development of the 1990 Le Vigne Barolo. (Tasted by Luciano, Luca and Barbara, with others on the staff, October 2015)   
 
1990 Barolo Le Vigne
The 1990 vintage was one of warmth, with rapid and even ripening, and resulted in some of the most explosively rich Barolo produced. It rivals other vintages as one of the great "warm years" of the second part of 20th Century, along with 1955, 1967, 1978, 1982, 1985 and 1997. Justly or unjustly, 1990 and 1989 are held up as the two vintages that brought Barolo to the world's attention after decades of flying under the radar. For some, the steely and precise 1989s win the comparison, but many believe that the 1990 vintage, with its slightly better concentration, shows the heights to which Nebbiolo can soar in the right conditions.

1990 was Luciano's first vintage of Barolo Le Vigne, and it was vinified from fruit grown in the Vignane and Conterni crus in Barolo and Monforte d'Alba, respectively. The mix of vineyards has changed over the years as Luciano has judiciously added new vineyard holdings, always looking to improve the quality in the bottle by acquiring new land that brings added dimension to the wine. The current lineup includes the original plot of Vignane, with other fruit coming from Villero, Baudana, Merli and an additional purchase of land in the Vignane.

Luciano's intent with this wine was always to pay homage to the great "assemblaggio" Barolo of the past - historically, Barolo had always been made by mixing fruit from different vineyards. Luciano's take on this is made by separate vinification and aging of each component vineyard. The resulting component wines are checked for quality at each step and the final blending is done in the year before bottling, allowing the wine ample time to harmonize in the tonneaux.
 
Cantina Tasting Note: 
(October 2015; from a bottle in Luciano's personal collection): Dense ruby-garnet-red color with bricking at the edges. A perfume that is nearly fully secondary and tertiary, with dried roses, cherries, violets making the first impression, followed by vanilla and oak notes, with garrigue, mushrooms, spices, licorice and black tea. On the palate, the sweetness and roundness of the wine comes through, backed by solid acidity and a harmonious, aged tannin. It finished with modulated, evolved tannins and lingering flavors of dried fruits and flowers. This is fully mature and should be consumed over the next few years.

The Critics: 
Vinous.com (Antonio Galloni): 97 points, February 2010 web-only.
"I have been buying Sandrone's wines for years, and have tasted every vintage here back to 1982, but nothing in my experience could have prepared me for the 1990 Barolo Le Vigne. The wine is simply stunning from the very first taste, and only continues to improve in the glass. Sweet, perfumed and layered, the 1990 Le Vigne impresses for its opulence and plumpness, all of which are balanced with superb aromatics, great length and tons of freshness. Sweet spices and menthol add the final exclamation points in this profound, moving Barolo. Because of its early accessibility, I have always assigned earlier drinking windows for Le Vigne vis-à-vis the Cannubi Boschis, but this bottle made me question that view. In 1990 Le Vigne was in its first vintage. Sandrone made just 4,000 bottles and they were all snapped up by his US importer at the time, Marc de Grazia, meaning any remaining bottles are mostly likely in the US. The vineyards used in this multi-commune 1990 Barolo are Vignane and Rivassi,* both in the village of Barolo. Readers who might still be hanging onto this wine should be thrilled!"

"Luciano Sandrone was still working full time at Marchesi di Barolo when he made his fabulous 1989 Barolo Cannubi Boschis. In the spring of 1990 Sandrone left the Marchesi in order to devote all of his energy to his own estate, and the rest, as they say, is history. Sandrone's Barolos were built on elegance from the outset. Although Sandrone was clearly one of the early leaders of the modern school, his wines avoided the excesses of the mid and late 1990s. These meticulously hand-crafted, artisanal Barolos were vinified in steel and cement with manual pumpovers and punchdowns, then racked into 500-liter tonneaux where the wines underwent malolactic fermentation and subsequent aging. I can't think of another property where the stylistic shift from somewhat traditional to decidedly contemporary is as noticeable within such a short period of time as it is here between 1989 and 1990. While the 1989 Cannubi Boschis (and the Barolos that preceded it) still had a foot in the past, the 1990 is clearly a forward-looking wine. Much of that is attributable to the ripeness of the 1990 vintage and the introduction of new French oak barrels from the cooper Vicard that year. I tasted the 1990 Barolo Le Vigne and Barolo Cannubi Boschis at the estate, and have had the 1989 and 1990 Barolo Cannubi Boschis from a number of cellars over the course of the last few months."

*[A minor error in the tasting note; this was made from Vignane and Conterni fruit, from the communes of Barolo and Monforte d'Alba, respectively. -ed.]

Wine Advocate (Robert Parker):  95 points, Issue 92, April 1994.
"In 1990 Sandrone produced 100 cases of a single vineyard Barolo called Le Vigne.* Although more developed and less tannic and muscular than the 1990 Cannubi Boschis, it is a spectacularly ripe, rich, unctuously textured wine that is gorgeous to smell and taste.

"In my tasting circle we refer to Luciano Sandrone, one of the finest Barolo producers, as "Super Sandrone!" His performances during the decade of the eighties were mind boggling."

*[A minor error in the tasting note; this was always a multi-vineyard blend. -ed.]

Wine Spectator: 98 points. October 31, 1994
"Firm, ripe, rich and elegant, a beautifully harmonious Barolo that practically melts in your mouth, displaying floral raspberry, vanilla and tobacco aromas and flavors balanced against a fine edge of lacy acidity. A plush wine that you can really sink into. Oh so tempting to drink now, but try to hold off until 1998."

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New Releases now in the Market!

As of September 1, 2015 the new vintages of Barolo, Barbera, Dolcetto and Nebbiolo were released.
Bottles dark background
  
 
We have already begun to ship the new wines; check with your country's importer(s) for specific arrival times and ordering/purchase information with their retail partners.
 
Technical data and tasting notes for all wines including historical vintages can be found by following the above links to our website. We add professional reviews as they become available.   
 
In 2011, early warmth around Easter brought the bud break forward by 10-12 days and set a fast start to the growing season. Temperatures cooled though the early and middle summer to the point that the fruit was on schedule at the end on July. August 6 and 7 saw the arrival of high pressure and heat across northern Italy, and the warmth continued unabated through the middle of October. Interestingly, the extra warmth, coming so late in the growing cycle, did not lead to higher production. The Barolo of 2011 combine the best elements of a cool and warm year; it was cool through August and warm thereafter, and the wines show forward fruit and drinkability alongside a bracing freshness and ripe, long tannins. In general, the wines show poise, drinkability and precise delineation. These are wines that can be consumed earlier in their life compared to the backward vintages of 2006, 2008 and 2010. 

 
The Valmaggiore area is always somewhat warmer than in the Barolo, as is normal, and the 2013 shows the focused fruit and acidity typical of the growing season. 2013 was a cooler year and our Valamggiore shows the delightfully precise effects of the Roero terroir on Nebbiolo: delicacy, red fruits, soft tannins.
 
Barbera needed more care in the vineyards in 2013 as the season lacked the heat that gives Barbera its greatest expression. Careful vine work and green harvesting allowed us to pick beautifully ripe fruit the end of September. It is a focused and refreshing Barbera.
 
The difficult 2014 vintage required a set of working practices that we have not needed in nearly a decade: laborious hand-work in the vineyards because the ground was too wet for tractors and heavy equipment. Near-constant hand-spraying and leaf-thinning (to allow for better air circulation) resulted in a very satisfying and deeply colored Dolcetto

Dolcetto Bottle Current Release Spotlight: 

The wet, cold 2014 vintage was among the most difficult of the last 20 years. One has to go back to 1992 and 1994 to find such wretched conditions! Fortunately, we and our peers have learned much in the ensuing 20 years and  were able to craft delicious, easy-to-drink wines. The warmth at the end of the growing season in many ways saved the vintage and we are especially proud of our Dolcetto.
 
Cantina Tasting Notes:
August 2015: Intense ruby red with evident notes of violet. The nose offers a fruit-forward bouquet of cherries and berries. In the mouth spicy pepper and licorice flavors, balanced with a slight almond note. The finish is of finely textured tannins of moderate persistence. Drink 2015-2018.

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Sibi et Paucis Gold SeP

 

Along with new current releases, we typically release a few bottles of our "Sibi et Paucis" library wines. This year Luciano decided to wait an additional two years and release the 2006 Barolo bottlings on their 10th anniversary in 2016. Thus this autumn we have no new library release bottles.

 

The Sibi et Paucis program is our library re-release program (not a riserva wine) and more information can be found here on our website.

 

Please check with your country's importer for availability of these bottles - previously released vintages may still be in their supply.

 

Only about 10% of the production of each of the three Nebbiolo-based wines are kept back for the Sibi et Paucis program, and most are allocated to restaurant wine lists. If you see the metallic stamp on a bottle, you can be assured that the wine spent at least 4 years in Luciano's archive library cellar - perfect provenance!

 

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Barolo resting in the Cantina 
Barrel long shot
Tonneaux in the Ageing Cellar.
Our Barolo spends at least 24 months in wooden casks and per DOCG laws cannot be released until the beginning of the 4th calendar year after the vintage. So there is a good bit of wine down in our cellar! We do not use barriques here at Sandrone, instead Luciano prefers to use tonneaux (500 liter casks of French oak). Also, the Barbera and Valmaggiore spend just 12-14 months in wood. We use about 10-20% new wood on the Barolo, 25-50% new wood on the Barbera and only used, neutral casks for the Valmaggiore.

The 2012 Baroli have finished their time in tonneaux and were bottled in March. The 2013 Barbera and Nebbiolo Valmaggiore were bottled in December 2014 and were released in September. While it is impossible to talk about what the wines still in wood will specifically taste like when they are released in the future, we would like to tell you a bit about how the Barolo are developing.

Tonneaux
2012: A long, even growing season of exceptional quality was the characteristic of this year. The wines show generous fruit but with more structure and tannin than some of the warm recent vintages such as 2007, 2009 and 2011. The 2012s will require some patience to reach their peak. As the wines develop, we see the character of a more classic vintage emerging, showing good acidity, mature tannins and firm structure. Cannubi Boschis, lower in the valley and from a warmer site, gives us a fruit-driven wine; Le Vigne, from higher-altitude plots, shows more tightness and structure. In 2012, Luciano made 2 experiments with fruit from various Le Vigne vineyards: a tank vinified with the stems from a plot of exceptionally ripe Nebbiolo and a tank macerated for 4 weeks on the skins. Both of these tanks will be incorporated into the Le Vigne bottling. Luciano's goal with these experiments - as always - is to improve quality, drinkability and more fully express the typicity of Nebbiolo grown in the Barolo. The 2012 Barolo spent 24 months in cask and were bottled the first week of April 2015.
VM Nebbiolo 2013
Ripe, healthy Nebbiolo in Valmaggiore, September 2013
 
2013: A difficult, wet and cold spring gave way to sunny and warm conditions a week before flowering, and the ensuing summer was warm but not particularly hot, except for an 8-day heatwave in late July/early August. August was less hot than usual and a 3-day rain the first week of September drastically cooled the area. Uneven weather patterns forced us to carefully pick parcel-by-parcel as grapes reached optimum ripeness. The Dolcetto suffered a bit from the early cool weather but the health of the fruit at picking time was excellent, though alcohol levels seem to be a half-point lower than usual. Late September and early October gave us warm, sunny days and good picking conditions, and we were able to harvest near-normal quantities of exceptionally balanced, mature Nebbiolo and Barbera. Luciano and Luca are very happy with the overall high quality. Malolactic fermentation finished the first week of February 2014 and the wines will continue to develop during their time in tonneaux. Barbera and Nebbiolo were bottled in February of this year and show the vintage very well: Barbera is a bit of a throwback to an old-style Barbera with plenty of structure and acid, incredible freshness and vivacity, but with precise, focused fruit that pulls everything together. 2013 Barbera does not have the rich unctuousness that comes from hot vintages (Barbera loves the heat) but this will be a vintage that ages better due to its superior structure. The Nebbiolo d'Alba Valmaggiore shows the hallmarks of classic-vintage character from the Roero: deep red fruits, licorice, smooth, persistent tannins and a finish that goes on forever. For a mid-weight wine, this is uncommonly structured and shows good aging potential.

2014: The first truly difficult growing season since 2002 and 2003, but not the disaster the press has made it out to be. After 10 very good to otherworldly vintages, having a difficult vintage is not the end of the world - we have much for which to be thankful, not least of which is the wines we made this year. The wines were racked to tonneaux in November and early December of 2014 and went through the malolactic fermentation; all have finished the malo and the temperatures in the aging cellar are back down to 12C. The Dolcetto was bottled in July for September release and the amount of wine bottled will be down slightly. Barbera and Valmaggiore will be bottled this fall and show good potential, especially for the Nebbiolo, which was saved by the weeks of sun and warmth from the last week of September thru the middle of October. The two Baroli were also positively influenced by the late-season warmth and sun (indeed this period of clear weather saved the season) and continue to evolve in their tonneaux. We hope for wines that show precision, bright  freshness and good fruit, and are encouraged by the development we have seen so far in wood casks.

We will keep you updated on the further development of these wines.

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Legal & Copyright: The Fine Print! 

Newsletter, Announcements, Flash News and Press Releases: Copyright 2015 Sandrone Luciano Azienda Agricola, Via Pugnane 4, 12060 Barolo (CN) Italy

Text: Copyright 2015 VintageSpec, Inc. Used by permission.

Reproduction of any part of this newsletter without prior written consent of Sandrone Luciano Barolo and any other copyright holder is prohibited. 

Photos: "Cannubi panorama landscape" header, "5 bottles," and individual bottle photos: Copyright Davide Dutto.

Any and All other Photographs in text: Copyright 2000-2015 VintageSpec Inc. Used by permission.

Reproductions of text and images such as in the "Recent Press," "Upcoming Events" and other sections of this newsletter come from various named and credited publications, events and critics, and are made under "Fair Use" provisions of Copyright law.