Dolcetto

We're off to the far western part of the Italian Piemonte today to the province of Cuneo. Geographically centered between the triangle of Nice, France to the south and slightly west, Genoa mostly to the east, and Torino to the north, we're in Nebbiolo and Barbera country. Those are big, dry red wines that ripen late and in their finest forms go through significant aging before release. Dolcetto makes a great sibling for the region.

We're at nearly 600 meters/1850 feet here. The winters are quite cool here, but the summers are warm and dry, particularly late June through early September coming out of the rainy season of April and May. . 

The area is also known for a few of its foods. There is chocolate-based rum cake, cuneesi al rhum, and raviolini al plin, a tiny little ravioli often formed into abnormal (in the US anyway) shapes and filled with both meat and vegetables.

But, we are here today to drink Dolcetto. Translated, the word means little sweet one. Yet, the wines are tart, often tannic, and loaded with dark fruit. 

We noted earlier that Dolcetto is the perfect sibling to Nebbiolo and Barbera. Why? Dolcetto ripens early and is harvested early, it grows easily, and it drinks young -- all the opposite of Barbera and even more so Nebbiolo. So, from the standpoint of a winery, it means that they are quite complementary both in terms of the annual calendar and the longer term calendar.

On the nose, we get the characteristic violet aroma of the Piemonte as well as strong cocoa notes. On the palate, add in blackberry, black plum, and a lot of young spice, particularly black pepper.

It's a wonderful pairing with the traditional northern Italian salumi -- cured meats, mozzarella and burrata, and local olives. Or, alternatively, pair it with italian sausage enhanced with fennel, served with local mushrooms.


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