{"product_id":"luciano-sandrone-valmaggiore-nebbiolo-dalba-2021-1-5l","title":"Luciano Sandrone Valmaggiore Nebbiolo d'Alba 2021 1.5L","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe winery.\u003c\/strong\u003e Luciano Sandrone is one of Barolo's defining names — he started in 1978 with a small, then-unfashionable plot on Cannubi hill (Cannubi Boschis, later renamed \"Aleste\" after his grandchildren in 2013), and became known as a bridge between Barolo's modernist and traditionalist camps: he used new oak and modern technique specifically to let Nebbiolo express itself, not to chase a trend. He passed away in January 2023 at 76 — a real loss for Piedmont — but the estate is now run by his daughter Barbara and brother Luca, with granddaughter Alessia joining the next generation. Worth a respectful nod in your copy: this is a legacy wine from a producer whose founder just recently passed, which adds real emotional weight for people who follow the region.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe vineyard.\u003c\/strong\u003e Valmaggiore is a genuinely storied site — an amphitheater-shaped hill in Vezza d'Alba (Roero, across the Tanaro from Barolo proper) that producers like Prunotto and Bruno Giacosa were already labeling as a named cru back in the 1960s. Sandrone spent from 1994 onward piecing together roughly 2-3 hectares through about 20 separate purchases from local growers, many of them elderly owners looking to sell — a patient, decades-long land assembly, not a quick acquisition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe wine.\u003c\/strong\u003e 100% Nebbiolo, spontaneous fermentation with indigenous yeast, aged in 500-liter French oak tonneaux, nine months in bottle before release. 13.5% ABV. \u003cem\u003eTasting notes:\u003c\/em\u003e red fruit, rose, white pepper, and violet aromatics; red fruit, tobacco, spice and mineral on the palate; bracingly fresh acidity; long finish with graphite and earth. Critic consensus on 2021 is genuinely strong: \u003cstrong\u003eVinous 94, Jeb Dunnuck 93, Wine Advocate 93, Wine Enthusiast 92, James Suckling 91, Wine Spectator 90\u003c\/strong\u003e — that's an unusually tight, high band of scores for a \"baby Nebbiolo,\" and 2021 itself was one of Piedmont's more acclaimed recent vintages, which shows.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sandrone","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55364960387391,"sku":null,"price":138.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0899\/7912\/6079\/files\/c7b200f6baf7486825fc1645264c9dd9c44b18a0-2.png?v=1788463262","url":"https:\/\/munkmafia.com\/products\/luciano-sandrone-valmaggiore-nebbiolo-dalba-2021-1-5l","provider":"Munk Mafia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}