Passion, transparency, integrity, value. The Sandrone winery was founded in 1978, born from a desire to make the finest possible expression of the Nebbiolo grape in the unique terroirs of the Langhe where it reaches its highest expression. This passion has informed the decision making at every step of the process. The Sandrone family believes that the best representation of their work and effort is the quality in the bottle, not a pretty ad campaign or flashy marketing. Finally, the wines should represent the best possible quality at every price point: the basic wines are made with the same commitment to quality as the luxury cuvees.

Between 1973 and 1978, several bottles exist that were “made” by his father from purchased bulk wine, who then put a family label on them to give as gifts. These are not recognized as official Sandrone wines.

In 1977, Luciano (for many years he worked as cellar master at the Marchesi di Barolo winery, gradually acquiring vineyards) was able to purchase the first small part of his Cannubi vineyard property. With the following vintage he began making small quantities of his own wine in the garage of his parents’ home, testing and refining his own ideas about how to make a wine of distinction and high quality that respected the traditions of the Barolo while incorporating many of the technological innovations that were being used to make Barolo less forbidding and hard. In 1982 he met Marc de Grazia at Vinitaly who bought nearly all of that first 1978 Cannubi and who began exporting his wines first to the US and Switzerland, and eventually around the world. Dolcetto and Barbera were added in 1981 and 1982. (A few bottles of 1973 and 1975 Barolo decorate the winery, but these were bulk wines his father purchased and gave as gifts with a family label. These wines were not made by Luciano.)

With the 1989 and 1990 vintages, Luciano Sandrone caught the attention of the world with his Barolo Cannubi Boschis, made in minute quantities from his great estate vineyard site, which received 97 and 100 points, respectively, from the critic Robert Parker. This was one of the earliest perfect scores given a Barolo. The 1990 vintage also brought the first release of the Le Vigne Barolo, an assemblaggio wine made from four specific cru-level sites over three villages.

His brother Luca, 20 years younger and also a university-trained oenologist and winemaker, joined the company in 1992 and is now in charge of all vineyard management. The low yields and healthy super-ripe fruit that characterize Sandrone wines are now in his very capable hands.

Winery output and vineyard holdings expanded gradually and slowly, and in 1998 ground was broken on the current winery building. Luciano’s daughter Barbara began working with the winery in 1997 and now she handles all administrative duties, outreach and education. The Valmaggiore vineyards were laboriously assembled over many years; in 1994, the last parcels were purchased and the replanting completed.

Currently the estate farms a total of 27 hectares, 75% of which are owned, and produces between 90-100,000 bottles, or about 8,000 cases, per year. The current lineup of 5 bottlings was finalized after the 2001 vintage.
Throughout all the winery’s growth and expansion, Luciano has never lost track of the things that brought him his initial success: wines of integrity, purity and deep expression, made with passion and honesty to provide great drinking pleasure.

In 2006, solar panels were added to the roof of the winery’s south-facing tractor and equipment sheds. Luciano wants to have the lowest possible impact on his property and environment and these panels now provide most of the considerable energy required during harvest time. During the rest of the year, he sells excess power back to the grid.

Recycling is a religion at the winery. Rainwater is collected in a cistern underneath the courtyard and is used to irrigate the plants, trees and flowers around the winery building. Consistent with Luciano’s low-impact ethos, the winery generally follows organic farming rules but has chosen not to seek certification. Only EU organic-approved quantities and types of copper, sulfites, fertilization and organic pest treatments are used, and no chemicals or enzymes are ever added to the must or the wine.

The three Nebbiolo bottlings from Sandrone are each unique statements about the terroir, the vines and the winery that produces them. They are meant to be thought of as distinct and unique expressions of a single vision and purpose. None of these is a “second wine” or inferior to its brothers in any way. Valmaggiore shows the incredible perfume and relative lightness of structure characteristic of the Roero. Barolo Cannubi Boschis is a perfect expression of its vineyard’s beautiful exposure and soils, and the focused and pure fruit and tannins. Barolo Le Vigne pays homage to the historically significant “assemblaggio” wine through its complex and layered structure that unfolds with patience and concentration.
The wines occupy a significant place in current Barolo winemaking not just because they are well-made, delicious and can age for decades, but also because the winery effortlessly balances old and new elements – traditional winemaking and vineyards use, but vinified in a modern way with up-to-date technology, so as to straddle the modernist/traditional divide. The wines and the winery reflect a commitment to balance on all its levels.

The winery also produces Barbera and Dolcetto, typical varietals of the region. These are wines designed to be consumed younger than the Nebbiolo wines and are made for easy enjoyment sooner after release. Again, Luciano strives to make these wines with the same commitment to quality as the Barolo.

For the vintages of 1999-2000-2001, Luciano made a blend of Nebbiolo-Barbera from the Cascina Pe Mol vineyard, an old farmhouse with vines near the top of the hill of Gramolere in Monforte. Nebbiolo never thrived at this site and the vines were replaced with Barbera and Dolcetto, which do better in the high, windy ridgetop conditions

Much has been made of the changes in Piedmontese winemaking over the last 30 years. Beginning in the late 1970s, young winemakers started adopting techniques to lessen the severity of the tannins of Barolo and Barbaresco; in essence, to make a wine that could be enjoyed earlier in its life, one that did not require 25 years of patience for the tannins to soften. As Luciano was coming of age as a winemaker in these times, he could pick and choose which new techniques to adopt and which old traditions to maintain.

Though he has been labeled as a member of the “modernists” by portions of the world’s wine press, his methods and philosophy hew toward a middle ground. Luciano realized that the new methods – rotofermentors, short macerations, new French barriques – would make more approachable wine, but something of the uniqueness of Barolo was lost.

In his immaculate modern winery, he makes clean and polished wines using essentially old methods: open-top vertical fermentation tanks, moderately long macerations, larger casks (600-700 litre barrels), and throughout the process a gentle handling and respect for the fruit that is the hallmark of artisanal production.