Luciano Sandrone Barolo Aleste 2021 (1500ml)

The name of the wine may have changed, but Sandrone’s flagship Barolo is still, and will always be, 100% Cannubi Boschis, the Barolo vineyard synonymous with this grower. The Boschis subzone sits near the northern end of the Cannubi hill directly across from the Sandrone cellars. Sandrone farms 1.9 hectares of 40-year-old vines in the Cru, which has a particularly good south and southeast exposure in a small amphitheatre or conca that helps hold warmth in the early morning. Its soils are sea deposits of calcareous clay with sand and therefore have excellent drainage.

Highlighting the uniqueness of the wines from this terroir compared to the rest of the Cannubi hill, Alessandro Masnaghetti’s L’Enciclopedia delle Grandi Vigne del Barolo writes: “The wines, in general, have good body, much elegance, and more polished tannins than other Cannubi wines.” The winemaking is identical to Le Vigne, aside from a little longer on skins. While both are extraordinary, the stylistic contrast is clear as day. Where Le Vigne is lifted and perfumed, and yet more classical and mineral, Aleste is more fleshy, layered and seductive when young.