The Nebbiolo d’Alba is organically farmed and as of the 2019 vintage will be certified. As David expresses “It’s another way to teach someone about Nebbiolo”. Nebbiolo d’Alba must be 100% Nebbiolo which is why he decided to launch this except of using the Langhe appellation. Langhe Nebbiolo can have up to 15% of other grapes hence his choice of Alba. Sourced from 2 vineyards, 1st is situated in Roero and the 2nd very close to Alba in Scaparone. Fruit sourced from Roero can be classified Nebbiolo d’Alba.
100% destemmed. Open ferment, very little plunging, every 2 to 3 days. No post ferment soak. Old wood. Legally Nebbiolo cannot be released until 1st November following the year of harvest. It can be aged in any way (i.e wood or steel). Fletcher uses wood as it helps with the natural oxidation/softening of tannins. David reminds me you cannot pick too early to purposely reduce alcohol, must allow Nebbiolo time on the vine.
‘This is fantastic. Energetic, refreshing, vibrant fruit, incredible train tracks of tannin. Sour cherry, bergamot tea, a little fennel and wild mint, some pepper and a bit of balanced almond bitterness. This is stunning wine, so delicious to drink, finesse and elegance and quiet power. Yes thanks.’ – Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
Sandrone’s flagship Barolo is 100% Cannubi Boschis—the Barolo vineyard so synonymous with this grower. The Boschis subzone sits near the northern end oftheCannubi hill,directly acrossfrom theSandrone cellars.The Cru(of which Sandronefarms1.9hectaresof39-year-oldvines),hasaparticularlygoodexposure to the south and southeast, in a small amphitheatre that helps hold warmth in the early morning. Its soils are sea deposits of calcareous clay with some sand and therefore have excellent drainage.
The Cannubi slope is complex, with soil variation, many different aspects and variation in altitude. “It looks like a sleeping dragon,” says Barbara Sandrone, describing the way the ridge snakes across the landscape. Highlighting the uniqueness of the wines from this terroir compared to the rest of the Cannubi hill,.ThewinemakingissimilartothatoftheBaroloLeVigne,althoughhere,the juice spends a longer time on skins (up to two months).
Just when we thought Luciano Sandrone might have been ready to put his feet up and enjoy a much-deserved retirement, he astounded us (and the rest of the wine world) in late 2019, with the release of a new wine that has the potential to redefine his eponymous estate, a wine that may have created a world-firstbygettingtwo100-pointreviewsfromkeycritics(AntonioGalloniandMonica Larner) on its first release (the 2013 vintage).
In 1987, Luciano noticed one vine in his rented plot of Le Coste, Barolo, was behaving in a very surprising manner, producing much smaller bunches and berries and growing leaves with a different morphology. Growers have long associatedsmallerberriesandbuncheswithhigherquality(rememberingalso that Nebbiolo typically has the opposite problem) and so Luciano was very interested in what he had stumbled upon.
Hetookcuttingsandplantedtheminseveraldifferentplacestoseeiftheywould behavethesameway.Theydid,andsoin1991,Lucianoandhisbrother(vineyard manager Luca Sandrone) began planting out cuttings taken from these vines in two Crus: Drucà and Rivassi. Later, Sandrone acquired the original parcel of Le Coste and planted it out with this cultivar—so there are three tiny sites today.
In2017,whenthevineswerefinallyabletobeverifiedbyDNAtesting,itwas discoveredthevineswereindeedNebbiolo,butauniquestrainthathadnever been identified before. The Sandrone family have named it Vite Talin—‘the vine of Talin’ (Talin being the name of the grower who originally owned the vineyard). Today there are 8,000 vines in production, only leading to around 2,000 bottles of wine.
