Dolcetto

If you were ever to visit the magnificent rolling hills around Alba in Piedmont, Italy, you would learn a great deal about vineyards by just looking at them. 

Find the sunniest place in any single vineyard and there is a high chance that’s whereNebbiolo grows, as it’s one of the most difficult of the Italian grapes to ripen.Barbera can also be grown there, but the grape requires a little bit less heat and light. Lastly, we have dolcetto, a grapevine that will happily ripen just about anywhere! 

Thewine features its unique black cherry flavour with liquorice quality, slight notes of prunes and black pepper and a bitter finish reminiscent of almonds. Dolcetto is dry and usually medium-bodied, with rich texture. InItaly, it’s regarded as “food wine” and is incredibly popular with a traditional Italian antipasto platter. While sometimes had on its own, this wine is generally insufficiently fruit laden, which means it tastes much better when paired with a meal. 

In the Alba region, the Barolo producers also make excellent Barbera and dolcettos. Dolcetto ripens quicker, so it’s often treated as a “second fiddle” wine to obtain some money early on before the “real” grapes ripen. The producers with such mentality create decent, but hardly remarkable wines.  

However, Dogliani, the region south of Alba, is where dolcetto takes pride of place. It only makes dolcetto, so the grape gets all the attention, and as a result, it’s considered much bigger and riper than Dolcetto d’Alba. 

The wine is juicy, earthy and easy to drink. Dolcetto has ample tannins but low acidity, which is why it’s sometimes preferred over the “buzz saw” acidity Barbera. Dolcetto wines aren’t usually considered candidates for bottle aging and are to be consumed within two to three years.

If you want to try a bottle of this Italian wine, buy dolcetto in the ZYN liquor store in Calgary, Alberta, Canada or shop online at ZYN.ca!