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That Useful Wine Site

  Wine explained, clearly and helpfully, including critic-recommended specimens of each variety.

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The Dolcetto Grape


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About Dolcetto

(Synonyms: Dolcetto Nero, Nibièu, Nibiò, Ormeasco, Ormea)

Pronunciation: dohl-CHET-oh

Background

Map showing the Piedmont region of Italy

Dolcetto is a red-wine grape originating in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, where its cultivation seems at least half a millennium old. Despite the multiplicity of local synonyms shown above (and there are many more less-used ones), it rarely arrives in the U.S. as anything but simply “Dolcetto”.

Throughout most of its native region, Dolcetto is treated as a “second fiddle” wine to the pre-eminent Nebbiolo and Barbera, being used as an early cash source owing to its quicker ripening; such bottlings produce decent but unremarkable wines. Some vintners, however, treat the variety with more respect, and these often produce very good wines. The wines are rarely if ever blended: virtually all Dolcetto bottlings are monovarietal.

The characteristics of Dolcetto are a black-cherry flavor with an almost licorice quality, with some also noting overtones of prune or black pepper, and with a characteristic bitter finish reminiscent of almonds. The wines are quite dry and typically medium-bodied, with middling tannins and a rich texture. It is widely regarded as a “food wine”, being thought to be insufficiently fruit-laden to drink on its own; it is especially popular as an accompaniment to the traditional Italian antipasto platter. Dolcetto wines are not usually considered candidates for bottle aging, and drink best within their first two or three years (there are, however, always a few exceptional botlings that breach the rule).

Most monovarietal Dolcetto wines come in two grades: standard and Superiore, the latter requiring a minimum alcohol level of 12.5% (standard can be as low as 11.5%) and a year of bottle age.

There are eight legally defined Dolcetto-producing regions, but three of them are reputed to produce the highest-quality Dolcetto wines; those are:

Factoid: In 1700, Barnabà Centurione sent some Dolcetto as a gift to King George II of Great Britain.

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Some Descriptions of Dolcetto Wines

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Some Dolcetto Bottlings to Try

(About this list.)

  Wines with a critics’ consensus score of 90:
Papa Celso Dolcetto   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine]

  Wines with a critics’ consensus score of 89:
Casata Monticello Dolcetto d’Asti   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine]
Chionetti San Luigi   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine]
Conterno Fantino “Bricco Bastia” Dolcetto d’Alba   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine]
G. D. Vajra Dolcetto d’Alba   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine]
Gianfranco Bovio “Dabbene” Dolcetto d’Alba   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine]
Giovanni Rocca Dolcetto d’Alba “Sant’ Anna”   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine]
Luigi Einaudi Dolcetto di Dogliani   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine]
Massolino Dolcetto d’Alba   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine]
Pecchenino “Siri d’Jermu”   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine here and (two CT entries) also here]
Pecchenino San Luigi Dolcetto di Dogliani   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine]
Tenute Cisa Asinari “Marchesi di Grésy” Dolcetto d’Alba   [or search Cellar Tracker for this wine]

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This page was last modified on Sunday, 29 December 2024, at 7:04 pm Pacific Time.