96+ points Vinous Media
Drinking window: 2028 - 2041
The 2021 Barolo Monvigliero is a fine follow-up to the 2020. Silky, aromatic and pliant, the 2021 shows the obvious elegance of this iconic Verduno site. Bright red fruits, white pepper, chalk, mint and spice race across the palate, building into a finish marked by notable persistence and crystalline beauty. The chiseled style is so appealing.

Alberto Alessandria turned out a terrific set of 2021s. The wines are deep, layered and super-refined, as Barolos from these sites should be. Readers will note the addition of a new Riserva from Capalot. That wine comes from the same vinification as the straight Capalot, but it sees extended aging in an 850-liter Clayver, the ceramic vessel producers around the world have begun experimenting with. The 2021s were harvested from October 8 to 12. They spent 30 days on the skins (with no submerged cap maceration) and daily pumpovers. Malolactic fermentation was done in tank. The wines were racked into oak in spring, where they spent 24 months. More than anything else, these Barolos impress for their finesse and an increasing sense of purity that is compelling. I first visited this address in La Morra's Santa Maria district more than 20 years ago. It's great to see the family doing so well.

96 points Wine Advocate
The Crissante Alessandria 2021 Barolo Monvigliero, composed primarily of Lampia with a small portion of Michet, shows a brilliant bright ruby color and immediately expressive aromas of violet, rose and delicate floral tones typical of Verduno. Graceful and transparent in style, the wine balances aromatic lift with fine structure, delivering poise rather than weight. All fruit is fully destemmed, and the berries are not pressed, a deliberate choice aimed at lightness and minimal extraction. Fermentation proceeds as an infusion with the skins, with little need to move the wine and just one gentle pump-over per day. Produced in a limited run of 2,700 bottles plus larger formats, this is a particularly captivating and complete interpretation from the historic Monvigliero site.

Crissante Alessandria is a family-run winery in La Morra, today led by Alberto Alessandria, who assumed the winemaking baton from his father and continues the legacy founded by his grandfather, Crissante Alessandria, in 1958.

Alberto represents the eighth generation of the Alessandria family to make wine, and while he has modernized the estate with clonal precision and technical experimentation, he remains deeply committed to what he calls the most essential value of all: “rural farming traditions.”

Since joining in 2005, Alberto has focused intensely on vineyard work, developing an intimate, plant-by-plant understanding of the family’s 6.5 hectares, which are interspersed with hazelnut groves and forest. His approach to farming is meticulous and highly controlled, reflecting an obsessive attention to detail, particularly when it comes to Nebbiolo clonal selection.

Alongside Nebbiolo, he is experimenting on a small scale with Pinot Noir, using whole-cluster and semi-carbonic techniques as a way to explore finesse and aromatic lift.

The estate has steadily expanded its cru portfolio, beginning with the introduction of Monvigliero (Verduno) in 2020, followed by the addition of Villero and Rocche di Castiglione (both in Castiglione Falletto) starting with the 2023 vintage. A further site, Lazzarito (Serralunga d'Alba), will debut with the 2024 vintage and is scheduled for release in 2028, reinforcing the estate’s growing emphasis on site-specific expression.

In the cellar, Alberto favors transparency and restraint. Fermentations are spontaneous in stainless steel, often preceded by cold maceration, with gentle pump-overs carried out twice daily. Particular care is taken at racking, which is done by hand to avoid damaging the skins, followed by an extremely soft pressing at just 0.2–0.3 bar to extract only the free-run juice. Any wine that has been pressed harder is discarded.

"Better to make a better grappa than a poor second wine,” he says with a laugh.


Vineyard: Monvigliero (Verduno), 100% Nebbiolo
Soil: limestone soil with fine sand
Altitude: 300-330m asl
Exposure: south/east
Vine age: 1951
Vinification: about 4 weeks of maceration in stainless tank at 26/28 degree temperature control, pumping over twice a day for the entire duration of fermentation
Maturation: big barrel from Slavonian oak for 18/24 months. Bottling between august of the third year after the harvest. Then fining in bottle for 24 months.