Winemaker Notes
Intense violet in color, this wine offers aromas of violets and black cherry. On the palate, it is dry and soft, with delicate tannins and a medium body. Easy drinking to be appreciated in the summer months, served a little chilled.
Great with antipasto, pasta, white meat, light cheese, salami, pizza and paninis.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Elio Altare 2018 Dolcetto d'Alba is precise and sharp with blueberry, black currant and tart cranberry. The wine offers bright and vivid primary fruit with dusty mineral notes at the back that recall crushed aspirin or limestone. The overall effect is simple and fresh, but you don't need much more to get satisfaction out of a cheerful and food-friendly wine such as this.
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Wine Spectator
A dense, chunky red, featuring black cherry, blueberry and violet flavors, backed by a solid structure. Hangs together in a muscular way, with fine length. Drink now through 2024.
An easy drinking red with soft fruity flavors—but catchy tannins, Dolcetto is often enjoyed in its native Piedmont on a casual weekday night, or for apertivo (the canonical Piedmontese pre-dinner appetizer hour). Somm Secret—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 makes a more serious style of Dolcetto, many of which can improve with cellar time.
An historic village situated right in between the famous regions of Barolo and Barbaresco, Alba is also the name for the larger wine region surrounding the village.
In a sense, “Alba” is a catch-all phrase, and includes the declassified Nebbiolo wines made in Barolo and Barbaresco, as well as the Nebbiolo grown just outside of these regions’ borders. In fact, Nebbiolo d’Alba is a softer, less tannic and more fruit-forward wine ready to drink within just a couple years of bottling. It is a great place to start if you want to begin to understand the grape. Likewise, the even broader category of Langhe Nebbiolo offers approachable and value-driven options as well.
Barbera, planted alongside Nebbiolo in the surrounding hills, and referred to as Barbera d’Alba, takes on a more powerful and concentrated personality compared to its counterparts in Asti.
Dolcetto is ubiquitous here and, known as Dolcetto d'Alba, can be found casually served alongside antipasti on the tables of Alba’s cafes and wine bars.
Not surprisingly, given its location, Alba is recognized as one of Italy’s premiere culinary destinations and is the home of the fall truffle fair, which attracts visitors from worldwide every year.