{"product_id":"luciano-sandrone-barolo-aleste-2022","title":"Luciano Sandrone Barolo Aleste 2022","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Land\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUntil the 2013 vintage this wine was called Barolo Cannubi Boschis. The name on the label changed; the vineyard behind it did not. Cannubi Boschis is a roughly seven-hectare section of the Cannubi ridge in the commune of Barolo, and it sits between about 270 and 320 meters. What makes that ridge unusual is the geological seam running through it: Tortonian Sant'Agata Fossili marls, fine and calcareous, carrying magnesium and manganese carbonate, meet the sandier Serravallian marls of the communes to the south. Sandrone's parcel is shallow calcareous clay of marine origin, free-draining, facing south and southeast in a shallow bowl that collects the early morning warmth. That seam is why Cannubi reads as perfume and silk where Serralunga reads as iron and grip.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Wine\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLuciano Sandrone Barolo Aleste 2022 is 100% Nebbiolo, picked between September 26 and October 6. Fruit is destemmed, lightly crushed and held under CO2 for a warm maceration of about a day before indigenous yeasts start fermentation in open-topped steel tanks. Alcoholic fermentation runs 28 to 30 days with nine to ten days of skin contact, short by Barolo standards, which is part of why the tannin here is fine-grained rather than chewy. Malolactic fermentation and 24 months of aging follow in 500-liter French oak tonneaux, 25% new, then 18 months in bottle. 2022 was a drought vintage: a severe rainfall deficit, vines barely to the trellis wire by May, a hot summer, and yields down sharply across the zone. Late September rain pulled the sugars back into range. Cherry, raspberry, wood spice, crushed stone, then a robust, firmly tannic mouth that still wants a couple of years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe People\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLuciano Sandrone's father was a carpenter in La Morra, not a grower. He finished agricultural school in 1973, worked at Giacomo Borgogno, then became cellar master at Marchesi di Barolo, a job he held until 1990 while quietly building his own estate on the side. He bought his piece of Cannubi Boschis in 1977 and made his first vintage in 1978 in his parents' garage: 1,500 bottles. He showed them at Vinitaly in 1981, a US importer bought nearly the entire production, and the estate had an international audience years before it had a building. From 2013 he renamed the wine ALESTE for his grandchildren Alessia and Stefano. Luciano died on January 5, 2023, at 76. The vineyards are farmed organically without certification.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFood Pairing\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is a Barolo with tannin to spend, so give it fat and protein. Brasato al Barolo, beef chuck braised four hours with carrot, celery and a split bottle, meets the wine's own structure head-on. Tajarin tossed in butter and shaved white truffle plays to the floral, mineral side. A veal chop, bone-in, seared hard and finished with rosemary and brown butter, lets the fine tannin scrub the richness. Close with a wedge of aged Castelmagno, where the salt sharpens the cherry. Open it three hours ahead, or lay it down and bring it out for a birthday that deserves a wine older than the occasion.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Giuliana","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67801289720031,"sku":null,"price":158.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0439\/7436\/1248\/files\/PA010452.jpg?v=1790911200","url":"https:\/\/denverwinemerchant.com\/products\/luciano-sandrone-barolo-aleste-2022","provider":"Denver Wine Merchant","version":"1.0","type":"link"}