Alberto Oggero, Vino Rosso "Sandro" (2025) – Piemonte

A young grower's tribute to the grandfather who taught him everything — juicy, unguarded Nebbiolo with nothing to hide behind.

THE GRAPE
100% Nebbiolo, grown on steep, sandy, calcareous hillsides in Santo Stefano Roero at around 280m, south-facing. In Roero, on the "wrong" side of the Tanaro from Barolo and Barbaresco, Nebbiolo sheds its usual weight and turns lighter, brighter, more immediate — closer in spirit to Burgundy than to its more famous Langhe cousins.

THE WINE
Named after Alberto's grandfather Sandro — the man who put him in the vineyard as a boy and shaped his palate long before he had a cellar of his own — this is Oggero's most instinctive wine. Hand-harvested, fully destemmed and fermented spontaneously in concrete with a submerged cap: no pump-overs, no forcing, no wood to hide behind. What lands in the glass is pure, unfiltered fruit — wild strawberry, morello cherry and crushed red berries over a spice-dusted, faintly floral frame. Bright ruby with garnet at the rim, taut acidity, fine chalky tannins and real precision on the finish. It drinks like Nebbiolo caught mid-sentence: light on its feet, deeply varietal, entirely without pretension.

THE FOOD PAIRING
Risotto with black truffle, tagliatelle with beef meatballs, duck with pepper, or simply a plate of salame and a Tuesday night. Serve at 14–16°C.

THE WINEMAKER
Alberto Oggero is Roero's most restless young voice — a first-generation grower who studied at the Scuola Enologica in Alba, then went home to Santo Stefano Roero to revive the small, neglected family plots his grandfather once farmed. Since 2009, he's built a five-hectare estate on a simple creed: farm organically, ferment spontaneously in concrete, and let sandy Roero soil do the talking instead of the cellar. "Sandro" is his most personal bottle — an ongoing conversation with the grandfather who started it all.