Sandrone Barolo Tasting History

I had the pleasure of attending a tasting that featured 11 wines from 10 different vintages of Luciano Sandrone Barolos. The wines  ranged from the 1982 to  to the 2000. It was very much like tasting history. 

Luciano Sandrone is an icon in Barolo. He purchased his first grapes in 1977 and in 1978 decided to dedicate his life to making wine. Over the years he was able to purchase a few parcels in the Cannubi Boschis vineyard. Each parcel has a different exposure which means that there must be several different picking times. So you have a wine from a single vineyard but each plot will contribute a different dimension. 1985 was the first bottling of Cannubi Boschis and the birth of the label with the cobalt blue background and gold letters. As of 2013, the label has been changed to ALESTE, rather than the vineyard name. ALESTE is a combination of ALEssia and STEfano, the names of  two of his grandchildren. 

 Two friends, Ric and Steve, were kind enough to share these bottles from their cellars for the evening's tasting. A few non Sandrone wines were thrown in to round it out.  

The oldest wines were the Prunotto 1978 Riserva and the 1982 Sandrone. Both were quite mature with tar and earth flavors. The 1985 Sandrone had not gone all brown in color with some crimson still showing. Fresher and more lively than the first two wines it was a wine to drink now. The 1989 Sandrone was the overall favorite. It had everything you could ask for. Sweet red fruits, a silky texture and a finish that went on forever. An incredible wine! At the end of the tasting I revisited it to see if it still bested the other wines. It did, the tannins were just a bit more prominent than on my first taste but it still was the star of the night. 

If either the 1990 or the 1996 Sandrones had been tasted on their own they would have gotten rave reviews. But coming after the 1989, (We tasted oldest to youngest. I know that some tasters prefer to go the opposite way but I think this was best for these wines) it was too much competition. 

The younger wines seemed to share a common trait. While quite good they may not have the longevity of some of the earlier vintages. That said, I wouldn't say no to a second pour of any of them. 

After all those reds it was time for dessert. 

Is there any better way to end a night than with a 100+ year old wine? Still alive, but not sweet, another taste of history. 

The Durand. A two part wine opener, a necessity for opening older, fragile corks.  

Thanks to Steve and Ric for sharing their wines!