Luciano Sandrone

Luciano Sandrone is one of Barolo's most celebrated winemakers, a self-taught vigneron who began his career as a cellar worker at Marchesi di Barolo before establishing his own label in 1977. His first wine — a 1978 Barolo produced from a single barrel — was sold from the back of his car. The contrast with where the estate is today could not be more striking.

The flagship Cannubi Boschis (now renamed Aleste, after his daughter Barbara and nephew Luca) is produced from old vines on the legendary Cannubi hill in the Barolo commune — one of the most celebrated single vineyards in all of Italy. The wines are characterised by extraordinary elegance, aromatic complexity, and a structural finesse that places them among the most sought-after Barolos in the world.

Sandrone was among the first to introduce rigorous green harvesting and cluster selection in the vineyard, and to embrace both traditional large-barrel ageing and modern precision. His career is a testament to the idea that great wine begins in the vineyard — and that passion and rigour, applied without compromise, can build something extraordinary from nothing.