Winemaker Notes
The 2019 Dolcetto d’Alba has a lively deep purple color. The nose opens with tones of wild berries, mulberry, hints of white pepper and sweet spices and fresh thyme. The palate is bursting with blue fruits and fresh plums, with a gentle tart touch that smoothen up beautifully with food. The finish is elegant with a lovely almond whiffle. A true food-friendly wine that enhances egg pastas, pizza, white and red meats and vegetable-based dishes.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The G.D. Vajra 2019 Dolcetto d'Alba is a dark and exuberant wine that offers a naked and pure interpretation of this easy and food-friendly grape. Dolcetto d'Alba is the kind of wine I'd love to pair with my favorite broccoli rapini and spicy sausage pizza from a wood oven. Dark cherry, blackberry and prune segue to bitter almond and tilled earth.
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.