Italy · Langhe

Fratelli Alessandria

Family estate in Verduno making two single-vineyard Barolos and Verduno Pelaverga Speziale from a grape that exists almost nowhere else. Classical aging in old Slavonian oak. Founded 1830, first release 1978.

The producer

Fratelli Alessandria farms in Verduno, the smallest of the eleven Barolo communes, where the soils drain well and the resulting wines have aromatic character. Two vineyards anchor the Barolo range: San Lorenzo in Verduno, defined by dried rose, cedar, and floral perfume; and Gramolere, with wild rose, spice, camphor, and firm, velvety tannins. Both wines follow the same cellar program: three years in large old Slavonian oak casks, two months in steel, six months in bottle. Old casks handle ninety percent of the aging, keeping wood flavour out and leaving the vineyard character to carry the wine.

The estate also grows Pelaverga Piccolo for Verduno Pelaverga DOC, a red grape concentrated almost entirely in this one commune. The Speziale bottling is built on rotundone, the aromatic compound responsible for black pepper notes in both cracked peppercorns and Syrah. In the Speziale it comes first: sharp, precise pepper, then rose and raspberry, then a clean finish with minimal tannin. Founded in 1830, the family farmed for over a century and sold grapes before releasing wine under their own name in 1978. Agricultural prizes from King Carlo Alberto date to 1843, documenting generations of serious vineyard work before a single bottle carried the family label.

Known for

Barolo (San Lorenzo, Gramolere) and Verduno Pelaverga Speziale

Notable facts

The story

The Long Wait

In 1843, King Carlo Alberto awarded the Alessandria family agricultural prizes for their Verduno vineyards. The family were farmers, not bottlers. For the next 135 years, the grapes went out under someone else's label or into bulk trade, the way most Langhe families worked before the region's modern reputation made estate bottling worth the trouble. By the time the family released their first wine under the Fratelli Alessandria name in 1978, they had been growing Nebbiolo on those same parcels for generations, winning prizes for it, and watching other people put their name on the bottle. The 1978 release did not announce itself as a turning point. There was no new cellar, no press campaign. The family simply decided to keep the wine.

From the atlas

Fratelli Alessandria

At A Glance

The Producer

Fratelli Alessandria farms in Verduno, the smallest and northernmost of the eleven Barolo communes, and makes wine from two grapes that tell two entirely different stories about this corner of the Langhe. The Nebbiolo goes into two single-vineyard Barolos. The Pelaverga Piccolo goes into Verduno Pelaverga DOC, a grape almost entirely confined to this one commune and one of the most distinctive small-production reds in Piemonte.

The estate was founded in 1830 and farmed for over a century before releasing a bottle under its own label. King Carlo Alberto awarded the family agricultural prizes in 1843. The first commercial wine did not appear until 1978. That long delay is not a failure of ambition; it is the shape of a farming family that spent generations selling grapes before deciding the wine was worth bottling directly.

The cellar approach follows from that farming history. Old Slavonian oak casks handle ninety percent of the aging, keeping oak flavour out of the equation and leaving the vineyard to do the work.

Place

Verduno sits at the northern edge of the Barolo zone, where the hills flatten slightly and the soil shifts away from the Tortonian blue-grey clays that give Serralunga and Castiglione Falletto their density. The soils here drain well, and the resulting wines are aromatic.

The result on the label is Barolo with a different character, not a lesser one. Verduno Nebbiolo tends toward dried rose and citrus over dark fruit and grip. The commune is small enough that most producers farm it as a secondary address; Fratelli Alessandria has it as home ground.

Gramolere is the second single-vineyard Barolo.

Soil And Site

The soils underneath Verduno drain well, and the resulting wines have aromatic character. The house's Verduno wines lead with dried roses, cedar, and citrus oil.

Gramolere is the second single-vineyard Barolo. The two vineyards work as a comparison rather than a hierarchy.

Story

The Alessandria family has worked land in Verduno since 1830. For most of that time, the grapes went elsewhere. The agricultural prizes from King Carlo Alberto, awarded from 1843 onward, document a family taken seriously as farmers long before they were taken seriously as producers. Wine in the Langhe in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries moved through négociants and cooperatives; small estates sold fruit or bulk wine and left the label to someone else.

That changed in 1978. The decision to bottle under the family name shifted the estate from supplier to producer, and it came with a cellar philosophy that has held ever since: long aging in large old Slavonian oak casks, minimal intervention, and a deliberate emphasis on what the vineyard provides rather than what the cellar can add. The ninety-percent old-cask policy is a commitment to that logic. New wood changes wine; old wood holds it.

The range today runs two Barolos, a Verduno Pelaverga, a Langhe Nebbiolo, and a Dolcetto d'Alba. The Pelaverga is not an afterthought. The grape is almost entirely confined to Verduno.

Vineyards And Cellar

The Barolo aging program runs three years in old Slavonian oak casks, followed by two months in steel and six months in bottle before release. The casks are large format and almost entirely old, which means the wood is porous enough to allow slow micro-oxygenation but carries no new oak character. Tannins from Nebbiolo soften through this extended cask period without picking up vanilla, spice, or the toasty quality that smaller new barrels would add. What emerges is wine shaped by time and air rather than by wood flavour.

The choice to use old casks ninety percent of the time is also a choice about what the two vineyards do in the glass. Gramolere and San Lorenzo are farmed for contrast, and the cellar method is kept constant so that difference comes from site, not from different oak regimes.

The Pelaverga Piccolo for the Speziale bottling is handled separately from the Barolo program. The grape's character is fragile and aromatic, and the winemaking keeps it light-bodied and fruit-forward. It is served cool and intended for early drinking, which places it at the opposite end of the range from the Barolos.

Wines

The range includes two single-vineyard Barolos, San Lorenzo and Gramolere, alongside Verduno Pelaverga Speziale, a Langhe Nebbiolo, and a Dolcetto d'Alba.

Barolo San Lorenzo comes from Verduno, and Gramolere is the second single-vineyard Barolo.

Verduno Pelaverga Speziale is made from Pelaverga Piccolo.

A Langhe Nebbiolo and a Dolcetto d'Alba complete the range.

In The Glass

Verduno Barolo from Fratelli Alessandria opens with dried rose and cedar rather than dark fruit. The wines lead with dried roses, cedar, and citrus oil, followed by leather and tobacco notes as they open in the glass. Acidity is firm and long-lasting, which is what makes these wines age well despite their relatively soft tannin. The finish is clean and floral, with the bitter almond quality that Nebbiolo always keeps at the close.

Gramolere adds density to that profile. Wild rose and spice on the nose, then a firmer mid-palate with licorice, raspberry, and a mentholated freshness. The tannins are velvety but present; this is the bottle that asks for time.

San Lorenzo is the more immediately perfumed Barolo. Less grip, more rose, a lighter frame that works earlier in its life.

The Pelaverga Speziale is a different experience entirely. It opens with a sharp hit of black pepper from the rotundone, then settles into rose and raspberry. Served slightly cool, it drinks like a fragrant, peppery light red. The tannin is minimal and the finish is short and clean.

A Bottle To Understand It

Verduno Pelaverga Speziale is the right first bottle. It costs less than the Barolos, opens immediately, and introduces the Verduno address through a grape almost no one has tried. The pepper character is immediate and precise: rotundone at a concentration high enough to register as black pepper before anything else. Then rose, then raspberry, then a clean finish with no tannic weight to negotiate. Served slightly cool, it works alongside food or without it.

Anecdote

In 1843, King Carlo Alberto awarded the Alessandria family agricultural prizes for their Verduno vineyards. The family were farmers, not bottlers. For the next 135 years, the grapes went out under someone else's label or into bulk trade, the way most Langhe families worked before the region's modern reputation made estate bottling worth the trouble. By the time the family released their first wine under the Fratelli Alessandria name in 1978, they had been growing Nebbiolo on those same parcels for generations, winning prizes for it, and watching other people put their name on the bottle. The 1978 release did not announce itself as a turning point. There was no press release, no new cellar. The family simply decided to keep the wine.

Final Word

Fratelli Alessandria is one of the few producers anchored in Verduno as a primary address rather than a secondary one. The Barolos display dried roses, cedar, and citrus oil with leather and tobacco notes. The Pelaverga Speziale shows what the commune grows when Nebbiolo is not the answer. Start with the Pelaverga, then follow with San Lorenzo to see what Verduno Nebbiolo does when it has had time in old oak.

Sources

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