67Wine
Luciano Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne 2020 750ml
rich dark-cherry flavors laced with notes of licorice, carob and warm spice, the flavors gliding on polished tannins in a long, layered finish_read more
James Suckling 96 Points: "The blackberry, spice and tar aromas are enticing and follow through to a full yet tight body that shows density and depth. The tannins are extremely well integrated and feel melted into the wine. Slightly bitter orange and mineral character at the end. Complex and curated."
James Suckling 96 Points: "The blackberry, spice and tar aromas are enticing and follow through to a full yet tight body that shows density and depth. The tannins are extremely well integrated and feel melted into the wine. Slightly bitter orange and mineral character at the end. Complex and curated."
The Wine Enthusiast 96 Points: "The wine is a bold expression of dark macerated cherries, earthy undertones with the nuanced complexity of oolong tea and a medley of spices and hen of the wood mushrooms. The palate is marked by a dark, smoky character, dusted with spices, creating a big and commanding presence in the glass that showcases the depth and power of the wines but never goes too far, maintaining an elegant line throughout the glass. Drink 2026 - 2050."
Monica Larner, The Wine Advocate 95 Points: "The Luciano Sandrone 2020 Barolo Le Vigne is open-knit in texture with sun-drenched aromas. You get ripe fruit with black cherry, blackcurrant, forest floor and wild mushroom. With time in the glass, the wine reveals floral definition, grilled tarragon herb and a heavier note of wheat biscuit. Starting with the 2019 vintage, Le Vigne also includes Le Coste di Monforte fruit along with fruit from Baudana in Serralunga d'Alba, Villero in Castiglione Falletto, Vignane in Barolo and Merli in Novello."
Bruce Sanderson, The Wine Spectator 95 Points: "Black cherry, raspberry and plum fruit is wrapped in a veil of toasty oak in this solidly built red. Ripe and dense, yet with a sense of elegance, this persists on the iron- and eucalyptus-tinged finish, with fine balance and freshness."
Dark red/garnet color. Tarry black cherries are front and center on the nose, with licorice, vanilla, black cassis, violets and hints of forest floor mushrooms coming through. The mouth is lovely, still a bit closed and with good tannins that will keep evolving, finishing with hints of cola nut and spices. At 8 years of age it is showing beautifully, and though it will keep improving, it will be hard to resist now. This is a long-lived wine, where the fruit is in great balance with the acid, oak and tannin.
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Wine Information:
Country: Italy
Region: Piedmont
Sub-Region:
Appellation: Barolo
Variety: Nebbiolo
Type: Reds
Size: 750ml
Choose when time is of the essence
The multi-vineyard blend of Le Vigne gives a complex, expressive wine in a difficult vintage like 2017 – the balance afforded by multiple sites allows a more balanced result in the bottle. Mint, balsamic and macerated cherries emerge from the glass. The wine is lean and muscular, long and straight – focused, tight, precise. On the palate, pepper, spices, mint, hints of coffee and cola are wrapped around a core of lovely raspberry and red cherry fruit. Though it is still a bit rough at the edges, a few years of bottle ageing will smooth out the angles. This is a muscular Le Vigne, but also very balanced by the freshness of the acids. The finish is smooth and lasting, with fruit and graphite. Recommended drinking window: 2028 – 2048.
"The 2019 Barolo Le Vigne is a historic blend of fruit from Baudana in Serralunga d'Alba, Villero in Castiglione Falletto, Vignane in Barolo and Merli in Novello. This year, a fifth site was added to the final blend. It is the Le Coste MGA in Barolo with south-facing exposures and 45-year-old vines in a two-hectare parcel. The backbone of this wine is Baudana, and Merli adds freshness. The wine needs more time in bottle, but already it proves generous and bold with dark fruit, spice and crushed mineral."
The Wine Advocate - 97+ points
"Very aromatic with hibiscus, crab apple, orange blossom, and ripe strawberry on the nose. Full-bodied, very layered and powerful, yet it remains very fine textured with an intense finish. Slightly more structured than before. Perhaps due to the addition of wines from a new vineyard?"
James Suckling - 97 points
"A tightly wound red, with floral, cherry, iron, earth and underbrush aromas and flavors. Beefy, with the vintage's characteristic austerity and a strong grip on the finish. The tannins lend a compact feel in the end, yet this stretches out on the finish, with a core of pure fruit. Best from 2027 through 2047. "
Wine Spectator - 95 points