The one winery I wanted to visit but did not manage to, when I was in Piedmont last year, was Luciano Sandrone. I therefore jumped on the opportunity when Barbara Sandrone was in Sydney this week.
Most wines carry the famous coloured squares on the bottle
The tasting was very crowded and it was not a good space for contemplation. Therefore, I will not allocate points and only make general observations.
Piedmont wineries always start with Dolcetto and Barbera, and one mostly goes quickly to the main game, Nebbiolo. So it was here. The Barolos on tasting were the 2021 Nebbiolo d'Alba, the 2019 Barolo Le Vigne (the blended wine from five villages), the 2019 Aleste Barolo from the Cannubi Boschis vineyard, and the 2017 Vite Talin Barolo. From left to right, the fruit concentration increases, but only slightly so. The Vite Talin is a very special wine. It is made from a separate Nebbiolo clone. The berries are only half the size of a typical Nebbiolo grape. At first it was thought to be diseased fruit. Luciano Sandrone identified this clone in 1987 and made the first special wine in 2013.
All the Barolos share a typical Sandrone signature. They are very perfumed, very Pinot Noir like. They are finessed, with a firm, mouth plucking tannin structure. In my humble opinion, this creates an imbalance. The entry on the palate is quite beautiful, but then the fruit cannot stand up to the tannins. Maybe long term cellaring overcomes this issue. But still this imbalance existed in the 2017 wine.
The Aleste and the Vite Talin typically receive high ratings. Maybe I did not get these wines. In the evening I had a 12 year old Cannubi from Chiara Boschis. Now this was a balanced and beautiful wine.
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