Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A very intense nose of brambleberries, citrus, underbrush, dried herbs and blueberries. Medium to full body, bright acidity and a medium-long finish. Fruity but serious at the same time. Drink now.
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Wine Spectator
Broad, rich and plummy, this Dolcetto's panoply of black cherry, plum, earth and chocolate flavors is wrapped in a lush texture. This is dense and firm, with a light layer of dark chocolate on the finish. Drink now through 2026.
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Wine & Spirits
This wine’s firm, ferrous tannins and saturated flavors showcase the concentrated character of fruit harvested from vines planted in 1937. Velvety tannins envelop the vibrant, fleshy cherry and plum flavors, as notes of cracked pepper, cocoa and licorice emerge with air.
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.
The hills of Dogliani, just to the south of the Barolo zone, produce the very best Dolcetto wines in the world. Its rolling hills reach higher elevations than those of Barolo and the area maintains strong Dolcetto vineyards as well as groves of hazelnut trees, farmland, pastures, and forests. Dogliani became its own DOCG in 2005; in order for a Dolcetto to be classified as Dogliani DOCG, it must come from one of the following communes: Bastia Mondovì, Belvedere Langhe, Clavesana, Cigliè, Dogliani, Farigliano, Monchiero, Rocca Cigliè, Roddino and Somano. Dogliani DOCG must have a deep red color, elegance, intense fruit, and aromas of currants, raspberry, and blackberry.