From the atlas
Crissante Alessandria
At A Glance
- Location: La Morra, Barolo DOCG, Piemonte, Italy
- Grapes: Nebbiolo, Dolcetto
- Wines: Barolo del Comune di La Morra, Barolo Capalot, Barolo Galina, Dolcetto d'Alba
- Founded: 1958
- First Bottle: Barolo del Comune di La Morra
The Producer
Crissante Alessandria is a family estate in La Morra, a village and commune on the western edge of the Barolo DOCG in Piemonte. The estate makes three Barolo bottlings from Nebbiolo grown within the La Morra commune, ranging from a commune-wide blend to two named single-vineyard crus, plus a Dolcetto d'Alba. Crissante founded the domaine in 1958 with his wife Teresa, both from winemaking families. The family has continued winemaking operations across the generations since.
The range is built around place rather than winemaker signature. Each Barolo bottling draws from a distinct parcel or scale of sourcing within La Morra, and the differences between them are legible in the glass: the commune bottling is broader and more immediately open, the cru wines sharper in fruit character and concentration.
Place
La Morra sits on the western side of the Barolo DOCG, a zone of Tortonian calcareous clay soils laid down in the Helvetian era. These soils give Nebbiolo a different character from the sandier or more compacted ground at Serralunga d'Alba or Castiglione Falletto on the eastern side of the appellation. La Morra Nebbiolo tends toward earlier aromatic development, softer tannin, and a more open mid-palate in youth, while still carrying the appellation's depth and capacity to age.
The Barolo DOCG label on a bottle from this estate means the wine is made from Nebbiolo grown within the demarcated zone, aged for a minimum period before release, and sourced from within one or more La Morra parcels. A bottle labelled Barolo del Comune di La Morra draws from across the commune rather than from a single named vineyard. Capalot and Galina are named vineyards within La Morra, and their labels signal a tighter, more site-specific sourcing.
Soil And Site
The La Morra hillsides carry Tortonian soils: compacted calcareous clay with high limestone content. This combination holds water through dry summers while draining well enough to avoid waterlogging. Nebbiolo grown in these conditions builds ripe fruit and floral aromatics alongside acidity firm enough to support ageing, but the tannin profile tends toward silky rather than austere. The commune's elevation and aspect vary across the different vineyard sites, accounting for the differences in character between the commune bottling and the two single-vineyard Barolos.
Story
Crissante Alessandria was the son of winemakers. When he and Teresa married and set out to build something of their own in 1958, they chose to bottle under a family label rather than sell bulk wine or grapes through a cooperative, as many small growers in Piemonte did at that time. That decision fixed the direction of the estate: independent production, family ownership, and wines that carry the La Morra name on every label.
The founding came during a period when Barolo's international reputation was still forming. Small La Morra estates that chose early independence built their work around the commune's particular soil and grape character rather than through négociant or cooperative relationships. The family continued that model through the following decades, adding the cru bottlings Capalot and Galina as the estate's range developed, and maintaining the commune-level Barolo as the foundation of the line.
Vineyards And Cellar
All Barolo production draws from Nebbiolo parcels within the La Morra commune, farmed to produce the softer tannin and earlier aromatic character the calcareous clay soils encourage. The three Barolo bottlings, commune label, Capalot, and Galina, each reflect their source: the commune bottling blends fruit from across the La Morra holdings, while the two crus are kept separate to preserve site character.
Cellar work preserves the aromatic profile that La Morra Nebbiolo builds in the vineyard. Oak contact is detectable in the Capalot, where a hint of vanilla marks the palate alongside the red fruit, but the commune-level Barolo reads more toward herb, stone, and dried fruit than toward wood. The 2019 Barolo del Comune di La Morra carries a drinking window running from 2024 to 2034, suggesting ageing that allows the tannins to soften without losing the herbal freshness that characterises the wine.
Wines
The range runs from Dolcetto d'Alba at the everyday end through to two named-vineyard Barolos at the top.
Barolo del Comune di La Morra is the commune-wide Nebbiolo bottling. Its colour is deep black-red with garnet glints. The nose is complex and layered: tobacco, red oranges, floral notes, rose water, fresh and dried herbs, earth, stone, and arabica coffee. Earlier vintages show cherry, ripe strawberry, and dried apricot. On the palate it is medium to full-bodied, with sweet red and black fruit, refined tannins, and a long herbal finish.
Barolo Capalot, from the Capalot vineyard, shows intense garnet red. The nose is fruit-forward: red fruits, blackberries, plums. The palate is fruity with a hint of vanilla from oak contact, fuller and more concentrated than the commune bottling.
Barolo Galina, from the Galina vineyard, opens on ripe fruits, apricot, and blackberries. The palate is full-bodied, warm, and well-balanced with soft tannins.
Dolcetto d'Alba is the estate's non-Nebbiolo bottling. Intense ruby red with violet hues. Cherries, redcurrant, and violets on the nose. Soft on the palate with good body and a characteristic almond aftertaste.
In The Glass
The Barolo del Comune di La Morra opens with a nose that runs in several directions at once: dried herb and rose water alongside the deeper earth and arabica coffee notes that come from Nebbiolo on calcareous clay. In the mouth it is medium to full-bodied, with sweet red and black fruit arriving first, then refined tannins that carry the wine without gripping, and a long finish where the herbal character reasserts itself. The weight is present but not heavy.
The Capalot drives harder on dark fruit, with blackberry and plum on the nose and a richer, fruitier palate that carries the faint vanilla of oak through to the finish. The Galina is warmer and fuller-bodied, with ripe apricot and blackberry opening into a round, well-balanced mid-palate and soft tannins. The Dolcetto is lighter in the mouth, with cherry and violet freshness and the clean almond note on the finish that well-grown Dolcetto produces. Across all four wines the common thread is the balance between fruit and aromatic complexity rather than weight or extraction.
A Bottle To Understand It
Start with the Barolo del Comune di La Morra. It draws from across the La Morra commune rather than from a single parcel, giving a wider picture of the estate's ground and the character La Morra Nebbiolo builds on Tortonian clay. The nose is layered without being busy: tobacco, dried herbs, rose water, and earth above the cherry and red orange. The palate is medium to full-bodied with refined tannins and a herbal finish that holds length without heaviness. The 2019 vintage drinks well now and carries through to 2034. It is an honest, complete Barolo at La Morra's softer end of the appellation spectrum.
Anecdote
In 1958, Crissante Alessandria and his wife Teresa made a decision that was less common than it might appear in retrospect. Crissante had grown up in a winemaking family, watching his father work the vines, but independent estate bottling in small-commune Piemonte was far from guaranteed in that era. Many growers sold their harvest to cooperatives or négociants, keeping the land in the family without committing to the bottling, labelling, and selling that came with a personal label. Crissante and Teresa chose the harder route. They founded the estate, put the family name on the bottle, and began selling Barolo under their own label from La Morra. The name has appeared on every bottle since.
Final Word
Crissante Alessandria is a La Morra family estate with a straightforward range: three Barolo bottlings that map the scale and character of the commune's Nebbiolo, from a broad commune wine to two named single-vineyard crus. The founding decision in 1958 to bottle independently rather than sell in bulk set the direction, and the range has remained true to it. The Barolo del Comune di La Morra is the clearest starting point, accessible in its tannin and aromatic, with enough depth and a ten-year drinking window to show what La Morra Nebbiolo can do.
Sources
- https://www.stradadelbarolo.it/en/members/crissante-alessandria/
- https://piemontegirl.com/2021/08/17/crissante-alessandria/
- https://worldoffinewine.com/wines/25003/barolo-del-comune-di-la-morra-la-morra