Vinous 96/100 Wine Spectator 97/100 James Suckling 96/100 Size:0.75 l Type:Red Country:Italy Region:Piemonte Denomination:Barolo DOCG Grapes:Nebbiolo 100% Aging:2 years in 500 liters tonneaux, then 1 year in oval oak barrels and 3 years in bottle Alcohol content:14% Service temperature:18/20°C Vintage:2015 Luciano Sandrone’s Barolo Vite Talin, represents the pinnacle of this historic winery’s production and, specifically, the summa of both the production philosophy and the search for the complexity suitable for producing a wine of the highest order. Now in its third vintage, Vite Talin was born after 25 years of study and investment to cultivate and grow a unique vineyard composed of Nebbiolo plants with characteristics quite different from what Sandrone himself grows in other areas. A plant that was part of a plot rented to Luciano from Natale, known as Talin, back in 1987, identified back then as singular, then studied to the level of understanding its DNA, multiplied by grafting in the field and then arrived, in 2013, at the first vinification. Luciano knew that he was looking at a special plant that would yield a Barolo with a clear and well-marked future: hence the tribute to Talin, a winemaker in Barolo, who at the time trusted Luciano’s skills, preparation and ambition. Favored by its southeastern exposure, the Vite Talin vineyard benefited from the heat peaks recorded during the summer of 2015, also supported by significant water reserves accumulated between winter and spring, bringing the plant to harvest in excellent condition. After a month of fermentation also with submerged cap in vertical wooden vats and decantation in steel tanks, the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in 500-liter tonneaux where it rests for two years before a further period of aging in wood and then in the bottle, being released to the public 6 years after the harvest. On tasting, Barolo Vite Talin is deep garnet in color and concentrated, opening up to the nose in all its breadth made up of red fruits such as pomegranate, raspberry and cherry, floral hints of rose, spices such as licorice, then herbaceous notes that bring back rosemary and hints of garrigue. In the mouth, great is the structure, made of intense tannins and still marked acidity, with a full, powerful and deep sip that anticipates a very long persistence and a slightly smoky return. To define Vite Talin only as a “wine” is reductive: this is a true work of craftsmanship that unleashes a whirlwind of emotions that is difficult to govern and that everyone, sooner or later, perhaps after waiting a few years for it in the cellar, must surely experience firsthand.