Despite this family’s great loss in 2023, Luciano Sandrone left his self-made estate with not a hair out of place. His younger brother Luca, a talented agronomist, has been expertly managing the vineyards since the early 1990s, joined in recent years by Alessia, Barbara’s daughter and Luciano’s granddaughter. We have witnessed firsthand that Alessia inherited her relatives’ passion and meticulousness. Alessia told us recently that she is far happier working in the vineyards than in the winery. Indeed, one of the least discussed aspects of this famous producer is the quality of their work in the vines. Sandrone is truly one of the regional spearheads in this area, which is why this is one of a handful of estates that makes benchmark wines every year, regardless of each vintage’s challenges. Firstly, it has followed organic principles for decades in a region where such practice is still rare. Secondly, Luca is a perfectionist and is entirely obsessed with the vines he manages. His focus is very much on making the vines stronger, healthier and more resilient rather than the symptomatic approach that remains so typical. Much of the vineyard work is done by hand, with the estate employing 15 full-time workers in the vines alone (for 27 hectares!). Like his brother before him, Luca openly references his admiration for Burgundy in the family’s approach and seeks to harvest only perfectly ripe and clean fruit. Harvesting dates here are treated like a religion, and even the entry-level wines are subject to a strict fruit selection. This is key to the purity and ripe flesh of the wines and something that separates Sandrone from the pack. Luca points out: “I always want to see the vintage character come out in the wine, but not its defects, so this determines the work in the vineyard.” The 2020 vintage character at Sandrone is one of grace, elegance, attractive balance and a wealth of class. Luciano himself was a big fan of the classical yet seductive style of the young wines, which offer considerably more youthful drinking pleasure than the more powerful vintages on either side. “It is a classic year but at the same time modern,” says Luca, noting that the harvest ran from October 8th to 13th, well within Barolo’s classical spectrum. It was a challenging year, but these are the years when the best growers typically excel, as is the case here. Both Barolos are strikingly beautiful, aromatic and silky wines that will impress from day one, particularly Le Vigne, which flaunts the personality of a ripe Burgundy this year. Aleste is, as usual, the more reserved of the pair. Luca, who speaks little English (like his brother before him, but fluent French), points out that while there is so much to enjoy in the young Barolo, they both have “ancora una marcia in più” (another gear). To the other wines―greatness comes in all shapes and sizes. Barbara Sandrone credits the changing climate and subtle winemaking alterations with elevating the estate’s Dolcetto and Barbera wines to even greater heights. “Dolcetto and Barbera in the past were soft voices; today, they are tenors,” she told us, noting the newfound intensity and silky depth on offer. Then we have the new Valmaggiore Nebbiolo from 2022 and Luciano Sandrone’s groundbreaking masterpiece, Barolo Vite Talin from 2018. Sibi et Paucis Museum Releases The Sandrone family runs an outstanding museum program called Sibi et Paucis. This Latin name translates roughly as “for the few and favoured”. Each year, about 10 to 15% of the production of their Nebbiolo wines (Le Vigne, Aleste and Valmaggiore) is held back in the winery’s underground cellars under optimal aging conditions to provide this producer’s long-term clients with aged-release wines that are closer to maturity. It was Luciano Sandrone’s dream that one day, all his wines would be released only when they were ready to drink. Currently, the Sibi et Paucis wines are re-released six years after the vintage for Valmaggiore and 10 years after the vintage for the Barolos. It is a wonderful initiative, and each release comes with a stamp on the label to differentiate it from the original release. Below are the third-party notes pertaining to the re-released wines, i.e. they are all recent tastings and reviews. Having tasted the wines on more than one occasion, we can say categorically that they are all singing. In what was clearly a challenging year, Sandrone’s outstanding 2014 wines were among the highlights of the vintage (as many of our clients will already attest). Many journalists were quick to dismiss the year given the difficulties of the growing season, yet the best estates far outperformed initial expectations. As a winemaker friend of ours once said: “Time cuts out all the bullshit.” “It’s easy to focus on the great years,” Luciano told us when his 2014s were first released. “But the wines we make from the challenging years bring me the most satisfaction, the ones that make me the proudest.” Only an estate run by a driven perfectionist could reach such heights (the Sandrone family employed 38 people for farming when the average harvest at this time required only 22 pairs of vineyard hands). Waiting for the right moment to harvest, being willing to undertake a strong green harvest, and making a strict selection during the vintage all paid dividends.