Memory of Gabriele Cionini^*

Luciano's wines? Power and elegance, a perfect synthesis

Gabriele Cionini, born in 1944, was born in Falconara Marittima (AN), but lived for a long time in Pisa, in Tuscany. Professionally he has always been an eclectic and enterprising man. He began his career as a researcher at an experimental nuclear centre. After about fifteen years, he became a restaurateur at the prestigious Ristoro dei Vecchi Macelli, in Pisa.
The love of his life took him for about twelve years to Paris, where he worked to make Italians' finest wines known to the French. Not an easy undertaking, but one that gave him an in-depth knowledge of Italian viticulture. For this commitment of his, at the end of the Nineties, the Revue des Vins de France designated him as the "Pope of Italian wine".

"The good fortune of getting to know Luciano – Gabriele Cionini begins – came to me in the Eighties of the twentieth century. He was a member of the association Piccoli Produttori dei Grandi Vini del Piemonte, which had organised an evening at Paracucchi's restaurant in Amelia (SP). From then on we never lost sight of each other".
And how did your relationship develop?
"When in Paris I began to promote Italian wine, Luciano's products entered my working group by right and so I began to deal with his wines in a professional manner. One day, Luciano asked me if I could help him to deepen contacts with the French producer of his barriques. One thing leads to another: so I contacted that producer and the relationship continued in such a positive manner that I became the promoter of those barriques in the Italian territory".
Do you remember any curious episode from that period?
"Day by day our collaboration strengthened. So I decided to talk with him to convince him to improve the aesthetics of his labels. He produced great wines, but they were dressed in a somewhat tired label. I asked him if he agreed that I should try my hand at devising the new label for his wines and he gave me his consent. I began to work and created the label for Barolo Cannubi Boschis: a light background on which a blue rectangle stood out with the surrounding text. When he saw it, Luciano was perplexed. He did not feel like rejecting it and decided to think it over. Some months passed and finally he was convinced. So I completed the work by declining the labels of the various wines with a rectangle of a different colour. Even now that label dresses the wines of Casa Sandrone".
Is there a wine among Luciano's that you loved most?
"I would say without doubt Barolo Cannubi Boschis vintage 1990, a spectacular wine, of structure and elegance at the same time. On the subject of this wine I recall a fact that filled me with pride: one day I organised a tasting among wines of different provenance, in Paris at a prestigious establishment, Il Taillevent. On the same table there happened by chance to be a wine from Mouton Rothschild, one from Mondavi, perhaps Opus One, and the Barolo Cannubi Boschis of Sandrone. It pleased me to hear many French journalists and operators reveal with surprise how that Italian wine, practically unknown, held its own against those two sacred monsters".
And what was Luciano like as a man and as a producer?
"He was not an easy man: at first he could seem distrustful. But, with the passing of time, he became a pleasant man. As a producer too I always loved him for the meticulousness and punctuality with which he did things".
How would you define the character of his wines?
"I would use two words: power and elegance, a perfect synthesis that translates into longevity".

*Unfortunately during 2025 Gabriele Cionini passed away.