
Dolcetto
Learn about Dolcetto — taste profile, popular regions and more …
An easy drinking red with soft fruity flavors—but catchy tannins, Dolcetto is often enjoyed in its native Piedmont while more serious Barolos and Barbarescos take their time to age. Here, this is the wine you are most likely to find on the table on a casual weekday night, or for apertivo (the canonical Piedmontese pre-dinner appetizer hour). In recent years Dolcetto has found some footing in California, but plantings are fairly limited outside of Italy.
Tasting Notes for Dolcetto
Dolcetto is a dry red wine with a moderate acidity and fairly high tannins. The name translates to “little sweet one,” and though the wines produced are typically not sweet in terms of residual sugar, they are full of juicy red cherry and blueberry, with occasional hints of chocolate and baking spice.
Perfect Food Pairings for Dolcetto
Dolcetto is a lively, exuberant variety and works well paired with tomato-based or pesto pasta dishes, pizza, roasted or cured meat and spanakopita.
Sommelier Secrets for Dolcetto
In most of Piedmont, easy-ripening Dolcetto is relegated to the secondary sites—the best of which are reserved for the king variety: Nebbiolo. However, in the Dogliani zone it is the star of the show, and here it makes a bigger, riper and a more serious style of Dolcetto, many of which can improve with cellar time.
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Castello di Neive Dolcetto d'Alba Basarin 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
- WE
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Bruno Giacosa Falletto Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
- WS
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Parusso Dolcetto d'Alba Piani Noce 2016Dolcetto from Piedmont, Italy
- RP
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Abbona Papa Celso Dolcetto 2016Dolcetto from Piedmont, Italy
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Francesco Boschis Pianezzo Dolcetto di Dogliani 2016Dolcetto from Dogliani, Piedmont, Italy
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Marchesi di Barolo Madonna del Dono Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
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Roberto Voerzio Priavino Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
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Massolino Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
- WS
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Paolo Scavino Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
- RP
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Bruna Grimaldi San Martino Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
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Andrea Oberto Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
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E. Pira e Figli Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
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Pecchenino San Luigi Dogliani Dolcetto 2016Dolcetto from Dogliani, Piedmont, Italy
- WS
- RP
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Francesco Boschis Dolcetto di Dogliani Vigna dei Prey 2016Dolcetto from Dogliani, Piedmont, Italy
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Bruno Giacosa Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
- WS
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Ceretto Rossana Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
- WS
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Pecchenino Siri d'Jermu Dogliani Superiore Dolcetto 2016Dolcetto from Piedmont, Italy
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Idlewild Fox Hill Dolcetto 2016Dolcetto from Mendocino, California
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Sandrone Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
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Ca'Viola Vilot Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
- WS
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Fontanafredda Briccotondo Dolcetto 2016Dolcetto from Piedmont, Italy
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Beni di Batasiolo Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
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Musso Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy
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Marchesi di Barolo Dolcetto delle Langhe Servaj 2016Dolcetto from Piedmont, Italy
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Pio Cesare Dolcetto d'Alba 2016Dolcetto from Alba, Piedmont, Italy