Barbara (Luciano Sandrone)

In Matt Kramer’s introduction of Barolo in “Making Sense of Italian Wine”; Sandrone is described as a persuasive proponent for lush, intense, softer style of Barolo production. While their wines are easy to appreciate in their youth, they still possess plenty of structure and power that makes them good candidates for long aging.The estate has its roots when it was founded in 1978 with 22 hectares of vineyard. Sandrone focuses on painfully low yields in the vineyard and subjects his wines to a relatively short maceration period in the cantina. He does not believe in heavily oaked wines and thus uses only 10% new oak in the maturation process. His best-known wines are his Barolos, Cannubi Boschis (single vineyard) and Le Vigne. They are amongst the most supple and complex Barolos being produced today and few would argue against their almost iconic and expensive status.We were pleased to have Ms. Barbara Sandrone sharing her perspective and insights with us on both herself and the wines of Luciano Sandrone.

Tell us about yourself and Luciano Sandrone. Is it hard to be the daughter of the great Luciano Sandrone?..

I have never thought about me in this position. I’ve always thought and still about Luciano Sandrone simply like my Dad, so I’ve never got the feeling to behave differently.

How does it feel living and working for one of the titan of Italian wineries?..

again…I don’t have the feeling of working for a titan Italian wineries but on the contrary I feel so glad in doing a job that I love very much and this love was given to me by my Dad as it’s the reason of our Family’s life, i.e. strong passion and belief for what we do, together every day.

Which wines do you admire?..

of course local varietals from the Langa and Roero, bollicine from Franciacorta area, Riesling from Alsace..but only the old school, port from Portugal, rare tokay from Hungary…and at the end but not because is the last one…pinot noir from Burgundy.

Which Sandrone wines are your favourite?..

what a difficult question!!…to be honest I don’t have any preference as I love paring our wines with food for the different occasions/events that we have. My Dad and I consider each our wine like little babies part of the Family..so of course different to each other but with the same respect and importance.

What do you like apart from wine?…

FOOD!!…I’m amazingly interested in experiencing different cuisines, flavours, aromas, tastes, cook making/process, proveniences…

What are your other interests in life?…

too many..I rather not listing all for logistic problem…but know that I’m a quite curios person..so for me there’s nothing in which I’m not interested in to..as I believe that everything brigs to me the right piece to my puzzle that I was looking and waiting for…

What do you think about the Asian market?..

I’m really really really pleased about it.

What prospects do you see there?..

Prospects?!?…great and many..

How do your wines connect with the Asian, particularly the Chinese taste/palate?..

amazingly great!!..as the Asian and particularly the Chinese is in some sense very close to the Italian one..in the way that with simple ingredients ….matched together ..we are able to present unique dishes…without adding to much fatty dressing helping to value the taste of the dishe..but on the contrary let the ingredients to express themself in the most natural way. Thank you.

Click to view: Luciano Sandrone.

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Photographs and text by Daniel. Hit us with your best shots; we’ll try our best to listen. Send your inquiries or comments here or via email to jiuwine@gmail.com.