Back To Piemonte

Unfortunately this time our trip to Piemonte, Italy was just via the wine bottle and not a plane.  Paolo Scavino Winery is named for it’s founder and original winemaker who started the winery in 1921.  Located in the heart of Piemonte in the town of Castiglione Falletto, the winery is middle of the famous Barolo region.  The wines are now crafted by Paolo’s son Enrico and have won accolades left and right, most notably their Barolos.  The 2005 Dolcetto d’ Alba comes from vines grown in the lower strips of the Fiasco and Vignolo vineyards in Castiglione.

The Dolcetto (meaning little sweet one) grape is the earliest ripening grape from the Piemonte region and accordingly is the first picked, and are usually the lightest and easiest drinking wines from the region. The Docletto d’ Alba is a separate DOC and thus is defined by its own boundaries and regulations.  The zone that encompasses this DOC includes the Langhe hills East of the Tanaro river extending Southwest, Northeast and East of the city of Alba.  The grapes must be 100% Dolcetto and if the wine is classified Dolcetto Superiore, they must be aged for a minimum of 1 year before release.  This Dolcetto d’ Alba was not Superiore and was only aged in stainless for a few months prior to bottling.

My Tasting Notes

Color – Nice deep purple, I couldn’t see my fingers

Nose – Raspberry, chocolate cake batter, vanilla, asparagus and after about an hour of being open I got ripe strawberry.

Taste – Cherry and more cherry, clove rhubarb

Mouthfeel – Medium body, soft and smooth

Finish – Actually a little spicy (a cayenne like tingle), dry and tight, and long enough to remember between sips

 We had the 2005 Paolo Scavino Dolcetto d’ Alba with Gnocchi topped with a simple marinara sauce and sautéed mushrooms, and a side of sautéed garlic spinach.  It was a perfect pairing, one that I had a couple of times for lunch while we were in Piemonte this past summer.  As I have said before, I really enjoy Dolcetto’s for their value and for lack of a better term, “simple goodness”.  This one was no exception to the rule, and one that I would definitely recommend you buying.

Cheers!

Wine Tasting – 2006 Andrea Oberto, Dolcetto d’ Alba

 

We picked this up at the Wine Cellar a few weeks ago just to add to our wine cellar, as we always like to have at least one Dolcetto in “stock”.

A bit of background –

The wine is from the Piedmont region of Northern Italy and Dolcetto is the name of the grape as well as the wine. This particular Dolcetto is from two vineyards one in La Morra that is South East facing and one in Barolo that is South West facing. The wine is aged primarily in stainless steel tanks for 8 months with about 15% of the wine seeing oak for approximately six months.

My Tasting Notes

Nose – Raspberry, bright red fruit

Taste – Blueberry, raspberry, mushroom, cranberry

Mouthfeel – pretty acidic, medium weight in the mouth, fairly big tannins – more than I expected

Finish – pretty nice, medium in length

Even though this is a Dolcetto and they are meant to be drank young compared to their Piemonte counterparts (Barolo, Barberesco, Barbera etc..) it was as still a bit tight on the nose and on the palate. Overall a good wine for $16.00, could have just benefited from another year on the shelf. I actually had the 2005 not too long ago at a restaurant and enjoyed it quite a bit as well as their Barbera d’ Alba that I think if I remember correctly was also a 2005. Check ‘em out if you see them on the wine list or at your local wine shop.