The source of this wine is the Bergera-Pezzole Cru which is situated in the commune of Novello in Barolo with La Spinona owning 4 hectares of prime-positioned south-facing Nebbiolo vines there.
La Spinona’s organically grown grapes are hand-picked, destemmed and then given a day’s pre-fermentation cold soak. Fermentation occurs over 8/10 days, with automatic punching down over the first few and pumping over at key stages in the process. Racking and gentle pressing are used to obtain only the highest-quality wine. This cuvee then spends approximately 18 months in large 4000 litre 15 year old Slavonian oak barrels, and then spends 12 months in bottle resting before release.
Undoubtedly the most powerful of the 3 wines on offer, this Barolo shows medium ruby-garnet in the glass, with rose, dried strawberry, dark cherry, tobacco and even nutty aromas. The palate show a complex array of dried red and perhaps black fruits, supported by those trademark Barolo tannins. Still a baby, and certainly enjoyable now with decanting, this wine has an exceptionally long life ahead.
This is a dense, serious red with dried-strawberry, orange-peel and walnut character on the nose and palate. Full body and firm, chewy tannins that are polished and refined at the same time. This needs time to soften, but I like the sleek, linear path in the center palate. Drink after 2023
A blend of several small parcels of vines from a number of communes, Le Vigne is Luciano Sandrone’s ode to traditional blended Barolo. All the sites that contribute to Le Vigne are markedly different in terms of altitude, soil and exposure, and together they help provide a broad overview of Barolo in a givenyear:Barolo(Vignane),Serralunga(Baudana),Novello(Merli)andVillero in Castiglione Falletto.
Regarding the winemaking, the fruit is mostly destemmed with a very high percentage of whole berries and around a quarter whole-bunch. Wild yeast fermentationbeginsintankbeforethemaloandagingoccursinmostlyused, 500-litre French oak casks. Times on skins varies between tank, from 10 days uptoonemonth.The2018wasbottledunfilteredafter18monthsincaskand allowed to rest in bottle for a further 18 months before release.
The Sandrone family farms a continuous, three-hectare vineyard in the Valmaggiore area of the Roero which they planted in the early 1990s. Now that Roero is rising in prominence, we can start to truly recognise what a pioneer Luciano Sandrone has been in the region. At a time when nobody was talking aboutthisarea,Lucianorecogniseditspotential(havingworkedwithparcelsof fruit during his time as cellarmaster of Marchesi di Barolo).
Valmaggiore is planted to 8,000 vines per hectare over the precipitous site (50% gradient in places). The soil here is almost entirely of pure sand from shallow sea and beach deposits, littered with fossilised crustaceans. This soil gifts a remarkably perfumed and elegant expression of Nebbiolo, completely different from the more powerful style of wine produced in the clay-rich soils of Barolo andBarbaresco.Thevineyardisfarmedmeticulouslyandrequiresstrictsorting to reach the level of purity and intensity we see in the wine today. The wine is fermented and aged for up to 12 months in old French demi-muids.
