Life is too short to drink bad wine

During the visit to Piemonte we visited Luciano Sandrone new cellar at the foothill of Barolo town. We were shown around the winery by Sandrone's daughter and tasted some of their wines afterwards. There was a couple of things that stroke me during the visit: - everything is so clean, all the three floors including the cellar are all very clean with everything put away in the right place - the way the winery was organised reflects the way Sandrone wants to make the wine as well; top quality to the last little detail Before he started by himself he used work at Marchesi di Barolo and in a very short time he has managed to build a name of his own based on the "new" style Barolo, more fruit and approachable in the early days without harming the ability for long term storage. He makes five different wines: Dolcetto d'Alba Barbera d'Alba Nebbiolo d'Alba Barolo Cannubi Boschis Barolo le Vigne All his wines are pure, delicate (he likes Burgundy), intense and silky. ...

Barolo is an appelation in Langhe Piemonte and is one of Italy's great wines. The name is of Celtic origin as "bas reul" means low place. This is a bit of a contradiction as the town Barolo is at around 300meters, but it is surrounded by higher hill tops which may explain the "bas reul". Barolo is made entirely from the Nebbiolo (meaning foggy) grape which has a long growing season which makes it challenging to grow. There are no premier cru or grand cru classification in Barlo, but the wine is subdivided into two, those with just Barolo on the label (can come from anywhere in Barolo) or those with Barolo + the name of the field (like Cannubi for ex). The ones with field names are of higher quality and more expensive. Which fields that are the best are not evident and further confusion is obtained by the fact that one field can have different owners and thus making a different wine from the same field. The areas around the towns La Morra, Barolo, Cherasco, V...

If you like Italian wine and wine from Piemonte, La Morra is a highly recommended place to stay for a few days (or weeks!) to explore this beautiful area. We stayed at a classic hotel called Corta Gondina in La Morra which was the perfect starting point for visiting Barolo country. In Piemonte four different main reds are made: Dolcetto - name of the grape, light fruity with a fantastic colour for daily drinking Barbera - name of the grape, very fruity with no tannins wine goes with risotto, fish or light meat Barolo - made from Nebbiolo grape, king of Italian wine, needs cellaring, starting prices 25€ Barberesco - also made from Nebbiolo but further north, similar style and price as Barolo Classification of the Barolo(example) is easy but complex. The whole area of Langhe which is classified as Barolo is in reality just one appelation. It is thus similar to Burgundy, however unlike Burgundy the different fields are not classified into a Premier or Grand cru, you just have to know ...